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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22555207">My Marvel Academia (Season 2)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trigerhappy2134/pseuds/Trigerhappy2134'>Trigerhappy2134</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>My Marvel Academia [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Spider-Man - All Media Types, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fusion, BAMF Uraraka Ochako, F/M, Fluff, OOC Izuku, OOC Whole Cast, character fusion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:16:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>39,561</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22555207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trigerhappy2134/pseuds/Trigerhappy2134</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>(Based off of the DeviantART concepts by DuckLordEthan. ) Izuku Parker and Ochaco Maximoff, a pair of childhood friends born into a world filled with strangely latent powers, known as quirks...Though they have none of their own. However, after each experiencing their unique turning points, they will push forward to fulfill their shared dreams of being heroes, recognized among the likes of Captain America, Ant-Man, and the world's greatest hero Iron Might.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>My Marvel Academia [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1584520</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> <span class="u">Izuku clutched his hand to his chest and looked down for a moment, before steeling himself, turning back and looking Ochaco dead in the eyes. "I promise to stick by you. I promise I will protect you. I promise to save you no matter what."</span> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ochaco reached forward and threw her arms around Izuku, bringing him into a tight hug. He seemed startled and even pulled back at first, almost instinctively. After a moment, he seemed to come back to his senses and melted into her embrace, throwing his arms around her and pushing himself into her as much as he could.</p><p>Izuku's nose was filled with the sweet smell of her hair, and he adored how her arms and body felt pressed up against him. Without thinking, Izuku ran one of his hands up her spine, feeling her defined muscles, while the other combed through her hair, holding her head close.</p><p>She seemed to be enjoying herself too; Izuku couldn't help but blush deeper as Ochaco buried her face into his chest and squeezed him with all of her might. A soft, high pitched mewling rumbled up from the woman as his hand moved up and down her spine. Izuku nearly stopped breathing as he felt the woman push one of her thighs against his and lean in, putting more of her weight on him.</p><p>They sat there for almost half a minute, greatly enjoying each other's company, before Ochaco slowly let him go. "S-sorry, I couldn't help myself. You don't know how much this means to me."Izuku seemed hesitant to release her as he squeezed even harder for a few seconds, but eventually loosened his grip. She was blushing more furiously than he had ever seen her before as she looked up into his green eyes. The two sat in silence, staring into each other's eyes with their faces nearly glowing with their blushes. After what felt like nearly an eternity, Izuku finally broke the silence by grabbing Ochaco's hand. "Um-do you want to go web-sling across the city with me? I want to show you something." She looks down at their hands and then up to him, "Sure I'll go but what do you want to show me?" Izuku then stood up with Ochaco following still holding on to his hand. "It's a surprise," Izuku said as he smiled at her. Ochaco responded with a nod before she wraps her legs around his hips and her arms around the back of his neck. As she was doing this she repeated the phrase "This is so weird. This is so weird"</p><p>"Relax, I got you, "Izuku reassures her before shooting his first web with one hand and holding onto her by her waist with the other. Giving Ochaco a small nod he swings.</p><p>Ochaco wanted to scream. She wanted to let go, and suddenly be back on the ground, but she couldn't find the strength to speak. Not while her stomach was dropping as much as it did when she used her quirk. She was afraid. Terrified. Yet she couldn't close her eyes, because even though she felt paralyzed, she could still recognize the beauty of the city around her. The wind ripped through Ochaco's hair, but she didn't touch it, because she was too dead set on holding on to Izuku. When he swung up, her hair covered her eyes, but when he swung down, her hair blew straight up, allowing her to get short glances of the city below. Izuku stuck to the side of a building as he could tell Ochaco needed a break for the web-slinging.</p><p>"Thanks for letting a girl catch her breath Wall-Crawler." Izuku blushed and hung his head in shame."So-Sorry, I'm just really enjoying it up here." Ochaco then looked down at the space between them. "Wow, we are high up."</p><p>"Scared?"</p><p>"A little,  I've never been this high.... and the city looks so beautiful from up here."?</p><p>Izuku's eyes were filled with awe as he looked at the woman's smile."Yeah, it is."</p><p>Suddenly, Ochaco's face lit up as she looked at Izuku."Ooooooh Wall-Crawler! I've got an idea and it's a good one I promise.</p><p>"Ochaco your last plan made all of my backup cartridges explode."</p><p>Ochaco giggled and shrugged her shoulders."I said I was sorry."</p><p>"Sorry didn't make up for all the time it took to remake those cartridges."</p><p>"Trueee, but you did get to show off how you made them to our class I still remember Mei being so close to you inspecting every step of the process."</p><p>"Touche."</p><p>"Exactly!" Ochaco beamed."Okay, so are ya ready to hear it?" Izuku gave the woman a nervous nod. "Drop me!"</p><p>"What!"</p><p>"Drop me."</p><p>"A-Are you sure?"</p><p>"You'll catch me, right? Unless you're too slow and I'll have to save myself."</p><p>"You're playing with fire."</p><p>"Well let's see if I'm goin' to get burnt"</p><p>Izuku let out a sigh and hesitantly let go of Ochaco's waist. The woman laughed as she fell from him and down through the air. The wind ruffled her hair as she watches Izuku drop from the building. His hair flew behind his head as he fell and there was a childish smile plastered across his freckled face.</p><p>"Are you having fun!" Izuku yelled.</p><p>"Bunches!"</p><p>Izuku grabbed a hold of Ochaco and shot a web onto a nearby crane. He flipped through the air with Ochaco clinging to his chest as she listened to his heartbeat. Izuku looked down at Ochaco and tossed her into the air. Ochaco let out a surprised," Eep," but she never feared for her life. Izuku ran along the side of a building and timed his jump as she fell. He leaped from the building and grabbed onto the woman before shooting out another web.</p><p>The sky had a vibrant pink and orange glow to it as the pair had finally reached their destination. It was the roof of some tall hotel building along the East River, and it had what Izuku considered to be one of the best views."You... Can let go now Ochaco." Izuku breathes out still tired from all the web-slinging. She lets go and stumbles off of him, shaking away all of the dizziness that came from being so high up.</p><p>Ochaco's eyes grew big as her eyes were scanning the river in the distance. The sun was reflecting off of in such a way that everything looked golden.</p><p>Izuku then began to talk, "I used to come here a lot during middle school. I would come here to think when I wasn't fighting crimes. I thought about mostly everything from, school, heroics, Aunt Inko, ...... and Ben. I'd sit here for hours before school, watching the city wake, and I'd sit here for hours after watching it rest.</p><p>"It's beautiful. Everything about this place is." Ochaco sits and swings her legs over the side of the roof, leaning back on her hands, not taking her eyes off of the city skyline across the river</p><p>"I know. I've never had anyone to bring here before. You're the first."</p><p>Izuku sits net to her, placing his hand on top of hers. They don't say anything, but they can tell that the other is lost in thought. The sun continued to rise, and they sat there, taking everything in. He turns her head slowly with his hand, and slowly plants a soft kiss on her lips, without even thinking about it. Ochaco smiles and kisses him back.</p><p>Izuku clears his throat and speaks up suddenly."I don't know how you feel about me, but I feel like I need to tell you how I feel about you."</p><p>"Yeah?"</p><p>"Ochaco, the truth is... I love you, Och-"</p><p>Izuku didn't have time to finish as Ochaco interrupted him with a kiss.</p><p>The two kissed for so long the sun fully came up. The two separated with Izuku smiling, "Ochaco.... Will you be my girlfriend?"</p><p>"Of course I will you dummy... but on one condition."  </p><p>Izuku than stood up offering his hand to Ochaco to help her get up.</p><p>"And what will that be?"</p><p>"I don't want anyone to know about this relationship."</p><p>Izuku looked at her curiously,"and why's that."</p><p>Ochaco gave him a smile and strengthen her grip on his hand,"The same reason you wear the mask I don't either one of us or our family members get hurt cause of either one of us."</p><p>Izuku repeated what she did and tightened his grip oh her hand,"Fair point I promise to make sure no one will know about us."</p><p>Ochaco then took out her phone to check the time.</p><p>"We should head back now we do have school in a few hours."</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rumors were going around class 1-a about who would teach them in homeroom due to all the injuries Daredevil sustained at Avenger's tower. It is safe to say that nobody expected him to enter the door wrapped up like a mummy and with his glasses still on.</p><p> "Teacher!" Tenya yelled from the back as he raised his hand. "Should you be teaching in your condition?!"</p><p>Murdock ignored him. "Welcome back, class. As you're all undoubtedly aware, the MA Sports Festival starts next week, and as first years, your event is on Monday. That means you only have a week to get ready. Also if you want to use any support gear you need to send in an application for approval of it</p><p>"That being said," their teacher continued, "obviously a week of physical conditioning isn't going to make too big of a difference, so that means this next week we're going to be focusing on making sure your quirk and your skills with your quirk are the best they can be."</p><p>A shudder ran through the class at his ominous tone.</p><p>"You were warned that missing a week wouldn't be a vacation. This week, we're going to push you every opportunity we get, <em>especially </em>in Iron Might's class. This festival is one of the most important things here at MA; it's how you get noticed by pros and agencies. One opportunity a year, four opportunities in a lifetime, none of you can afford to not do your best."</p><p>Even though they could only see his wild eyes behind his bandages and glasses, the class could <em>feel </em>his manic grin. "Welcome to Hell Week."</p><p> </p><p>Daredevil wasn't joking. 'Hell Week' began with him shoving all the material they missed last week into a single day. Izuku was mentally exhausted by lunchtime and he still had the entire afternoon to go.</p><p>He had to admit, the talk about the festival had gotten him all hyped up. He admired the hell out of how Ochako got into it, declaring that she was 'gonna do my best!' to the entire class. It was kinda funny, seeing just how serious and intense the  Ochako could get.</p><p>As the trio of Izuku, Ochaco, and T'challa was talking during lunch about how they felt about the upcoming sports festival with T'challa seeming stressed through the conversation which Izuku asked him about it.</p><p>"Hey, T'challa you seem stressed-out. Is it because your father will be in the city for a U.N. meeting or is it something else?"</p><p>"No, it's not that it just there's one thing about the sports festival that I have been dreading."</p><p>"An what is this one thing that the prince of Wakanda is dreading, "Ochaco asked suddenly getting interested in the conversation.</p><p>"Well as you guys know, all classes participate in the sports festival which means the support class is participating....which means I will be competing against my sister."</p><p>Both Izuku in Ochaco were in shocked as the revelation that the princess of Wakanda was a student of M.A.</p><p>Suddenly in the blink of an eye Denki was over at there table, "Wait you have a sister what does she look like?"</p><p>T'challa ignored his question and instead answered the question he knew that was on his other two friends' minds.</p><p>"The reason I don't talk about her that much is that though she is a brilliant inventor her ego is.... how can I say this ten times bigger than Deadpool. But still she is good-hearted and will always do the right thing, but that doesn't mean she won't try and pull one of her jokes during the sports festival."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Izuku had hardly ever been more mentally exhausted than he was after they were dismissed at the end of class.  He was even a little hesitant about All Might's class the next day.</p><p>He was talking to T'challa about class rep business as he walked to the door when Ochako bounced up on his other side with a smile. The way she had demonstrated her passion for the festival was inspiring, not to mention attractive, so he beamed widely back at her, even more than he normally would.</p><p>He opened the door to the hallway with his wide grin, only to be suddenly met with a veritable wall of students.</p><p>Looking back, it must have been quite a sight.</p><p>Izuku, a kid who was a vigilante for most of the year gaining fame from the public was standing among students who seem jealous about what Class 1-A had done at Avenger's tower but even beyond that, he was flanked on one side by the prince of Wakanda and the other one of the most powerful students in his class.</p><p>It was probably a little intimidating.</p><p>Not to one student. A purple-haired student about T'challa's height with glowing blue eyes pulled himself out of the crowd. He looked exhausted, just like how Mr.Murdock always looked.</p><p>"So this is class 1-A?" he stated dryly. "I heard you guys were impressive. I was hoping to see you." He looked straight at Izuku with a flat expression.  "I wanted to be in the hero course, but like many others here, I was forced down a different path," the purple-haired man continued as he looked down at Izuku, "but I have another chance. If any of us do well in the sports festival, the teachers can see fit to transfer us into the hero course... which means they'll have to make room." He looked past Izuku and into the classroom behind him. "So I'm here with a warning. If you don't bring your very best, I'll steal your spot right out from under you. Consider this a declaration of war."</p><p>Before Izuku could say anything, another voice called out.</p><p>"Hey! I'm Shang-Tetsutetsu from 1-B next door and you better bring everything you got!"</p><p>"Same goes for you!" Izuku smirked back. "I'm looking forward to everything your cla-"</p><p>"What are you doing associating with the <em>enemy? </em>" came a third surprise voice from his left.</p><p>A brown-haired man about Izuku's height was approaching. He had on a pair of red-tinted glasses and a face that screamed arrogance. "Don't make me have to remind you not to deal with these 1-A de-"</p><p>"Scott,"  a fourth voice interrupted, "leave him alone."</p><p>The voice came from a girl with white hair as well as having white eyes.</p><p>"Sorry for how my classmate acted. I hope you don't think too badly of us because of him, he is very pro class 1-b and hates everything that isn't it."</p><p>"It's alright I understand what class loyalty is and also hope your class does well in the competition."</p><p>After that, the rest of the crowd walked away so that the students of class 1-a could go home.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Murdock entered the classroom, still bandaged all over, and wasted no time diving into business. "Today you'll be having an all-day clinic with Iron Might... and someone new."</p><p>Murmurs went around the room as students exchanged raised eyebrows.</p><p>"Principal Howard has deemed it wise to assign each class a TA. You have the honor of being taught by one of MA's 'Big Three', so try not to make fools of yourselves, alright? That's all. Good luck."</p><p>Izuku shivered at the sadistic look in his eyes as he turned and left the classroom again.</p><p><em>'A TA? One of the Big Three?' </em>Izuku could barely contain his excitement. <em>'There's so much I could learn from-'</em></p><p>The door flew open again as Iron Might burst into the room. "<b>Good morning, students!</b>"</p><p>"Good morning, Iron Might!" the class returned in unison.</p><p>"<b>That's what I like to hear! You're ready to face the day!</b>" He laughed his booming laugh. "<b>As Murdock already told you, we have someone new joining the class today! Say hello to your new TA!</b>"</p><p>A blond-haired man appeared in the doorway, beaming from ear to ear with an excited smile under his big, blue eyes. "Hello, 1-A!" he declared cheerfully.</p><p>He then planted himself at the front of the class and looked them over. "So, my name is Mirio Lang, and I'll be your TA! We're gonna have a lot of fun together, I can tell!" The way he jumped around as he spoke and how he held her hands... it made him seem so young. "You all look like you're going to be super interesting!"</p><p>Iron Might cleared his throat again. "<b>Mirio...</b>"</p><p>"Right, right, sorry!" he said back to him, never losing his smile. "Alright, today you're all going to be training under me! Get into your gear and meet us down at gym gamma!"</p><p> </p><p>Class 1-A was still unsure of what to feel about there TA when they reached gym gamma. The two doors sliding with a great mechanical noise to reveal Iron Might and Mirio standing there, each bearing wide, but very different smiles.</p><p>"Hi!" Mirio yelled, waving wildly as the doors opened fully.  All Might then looked towards his TA. "<b>Mirio, are you ready?</b>"</p><p>"Yes, sir!" he declared proudly. Iron Might laughed and walked over to the edge of the gym, planting himself on a set of bleachers, denting the metal slightly just with his weight.</p><p>Mirio turned to the rest of the class. "Welcome to the training! We're gonna start with some sparring so you guys can get an idea of where you are and how much further you have to go!"</p><p>"This is what I'm talkin about!" Eijirou yelled in response, pumping his first. "Who's first?"</p><p>Mirio Laughed. "All of you, of course!"</p><p>"Wait, at once?" Satou asked incredulously.</p><p>He nodded. "Ayup!"</p><p>The TA was about twenty meters in front of them, smiling slightly less wide than he had been while the class prepared themselves. </p><p>Mirio then started running straight towards the class and suddenly disappeared from their eyesight confusing the students. Miro then appeared behind everyone taking them by surprise. A few seconds later, all of class 1-A's long-range fighters were on the ground with Mirio standing above them yelling, "POWERRRR!"</p><p>Whoever remained standing started talking to each other.</p><p>"The phasing is strong enough, but warping as well. This guy is overpowered!"</p><p>"Yeah, it's like he is invincible!"</p><p>"Invincible?" Flash scoffed, "I call it a challenge!" He then came charging at Mirio. Just like every other attack so far, his explosions hit nothing. Mirio then reappeared and attacked Flash by punching him in the stomach.</p><p> </p><p>While Flash was attacking Mirio Izuku got a chance to think about what type of quirk he has.' <em>It isn't phasing cause the light isn't changing and you can't see through him...... Maybe he has a shrinking quirk!</em>' Izuku then got out of his thought process as he saw that Flash was defeated. Izuku could see Mirio disappear like last time. He presumed Mirio would come up behind everyone like last time and prepared for it.</p><p>Izuku ended up being right and Mirio came popping off the ground behind him. Izuku's spider-sense went off and he turned around and went for a punch. Mirio quickly smiled at him and shrink down to dodge the attack. That didn't stop Izuku however and he readjusted as his spider-sense went off as Mirio grew back and Izuku managed to land a hit on one of Mirio's knees, making the senior wince in pain. Mirio didn't hesitate however and was quick with a counterattack punching Izuku in his stomach. Shortly after, despite being encouraged by Izuku landing a hit, the rest of class 1-A was defeated. Mirio stood above them all and yelled, "POWERRRRRR!!!!"</p><p> </p><p>"So, did you have fun?" Mirio asked the bruised and beaten students.</p><p>"We barely got to do anything!" Mina complained from her spot next to Ochako.</p><p>"You were on a different level," Denki added. "We didn't stand a chance against someone with an awesome quirk like yours!"</p><p>"Yeah," Kyouka followed, "my quirk's nothing compared to yours."</p><p>Mirio clapped his hands once. "Hey now, none of that! You all have super amazing quirks! Each of you can do things that I can't!" He pointed a finger into the air proudly. "Besides, did you know that I was dead last in the entire class my first year because of how weak my quirk was?"</p><p>The students stopped their moaning to listen.</p><p><br/>"Yup, it's true!" Mirio continued. "I honestly don't even know how I got <em>into </em>the hero course my first year! But I trained, I pushed himself and kept at it! I put my entire heart, body, and mind into my goals and now I'm the number one student at this school!"</p><p>Iron Might nodded. "Mirio is a truly exceptional student now. He's closer to taking my spot at the top of the leaderboard than most pros I know!" As he finished with the praise to Mirio he looked Izuku in the eyes as a way of saying he still had a lot to learn</p><p>The class gasped at the man's praise. 'How good <em>are </em>the Big Three?' Ochako wondered.</p><p>Mirio pointed her finger over the students. "So what I'm saying is that don't take this defeat as a setback but as a reminder of just how far you have to go! Set your sights on not letting that happen again and strive for it with all your heart!"</p><p>The class began to murmur in approval and a few of them even cheered.</p><p>"A defeat is one thing," Luke muttered after the noise died down, "but it was like he knew our quirks. He flew circles around us."</p><p>"That's because I did!" Mirio chirped.</p><p>The class whipped their heads around. Kel shook his fist. "What?! That's cheating! We didn't know <em>your </em>quirk!"</p><p>"<b>Think about it, Kel</b>," Iron Might began. "<b>If you become a pro, especially a popular one, villains will know your quirk, while you often won't know theirs. Adaptation and quick thinking are vital skills for a hero.</b>"</p><p>Denki huffed. "Besides, Izuku seemed to figure it out  and we still got trounced."</p><p>"Hey, that's right!" Kel cried out. "Why didn't you tell us?!"</p><p>Izuku shot the small man a piercing look, causing him to falter slightly. "Did you not hear Iron Might? Telling you anything would have hampered your development. It's my job as a vice class rep to make sure you all grow into the best heroes you can be."</p><p>"Alright, break time is over!" Mirio shouted. "We've got the next five days together and I'm not wasting any of it! I'm gonna be pairing each of you up with someone else each day and you're gonna spend the entire day sparring and training! Iron Might and I will go around, offering advice, giving tips and making sure that you're not slacking!" It's time to go Excelsior!"</p><p>The students looked around with trepidation. Hell Week had only just begun.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Alright, first off..." Mirio pointed her finger around the group. "Flash, you're with Asui. Go find a spot to face off." Tsu hopped over to the blonde, who gave her an appraising look before heading down one of the streets with the woman following.</p><p>"Jirou, you're with Cage." The two students nodded and walked off.</p><p>"Izuku, I'm pairing you up with Laura."</p><p>Izuku beamed up at the taller woman, both of their faces full of confidence and excitement. Laura's eyes were kind, but he could tell she wasn't messing around.</p><p>"Mina, Kel, get to it!"</p><p>Mina nodded and walked.</p><p>"Amadeus, go with Ochaco."</p><p>Ochako nodded, looking at the taller man who was glancing back at her. They headed down to an open spot, putting some space between them and the rest of the class as they got to work.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, how are you so much more advanced than every student her?" Izuku asked as both he and Laura took a small break from training.</p><p>"Because I've been training since the age of seven. And because I was made to be a weapon." Laura replied nonchalantly</p><p>"Wait you were born to be a weapon?!" Izuku gasped.</p><p>"Yeah. Now stop worrying about it what happened in the past stays there and you move on from it, now let's continue training ." Laura said as she got into a fighting stance and a few seconds later Izuku followed suit.</p><p>Laura ran at Izuku aiming a kick at him. Izuku was able to dodge and launch his own kick, which she easily blocked. He tried to land a hook but caught his fist and kicked him in the face following up with an uppercut. This time Izuku did a somersault recovery and got back into a fighting stance "Your fast when it comes to attacking but your reaction times are still stiff even with your spider-sense." She said as she sent a barrage of punches at Izuku who seemed to have a hard time dodging them. "I can tell from the look on your face that your afraid still over your ability as a fighter. That will be your undoing. While in battle, you have to bury your fears and your emotions inside you and focus on your opponent. If you do that your fear will continue to get smaller and smaller until it's nothing." She finished off the conversation with a spinning side kick to his chest</p><p>"Bring it, "Izuku said as he got back up and put his fist up.</p><p> </p><p>Izuku was exhausted after class ended, just like he was every time he trained with Iron Might, but most of the other students had never been pushed like they had been that day. There was barely a word spoken on their entire walk back to the locker room. The showers were silent apart from the water as Izuku and his classmates let the heat soak into their bodies.</p><p>The rest of the week passed in an exhausted blur. Izuku was teamed up with Satou the next day, both of them focusing on enhancing their strength. Iron Might personally supervise their weight training.</p><p>Thursday he spent with Tsuyu. Their entire practice was them trying to think of ways to surprise their opponents with weird and different strategies to get them to lose focus</p><p>Friday was, thankfully, calmer, at least on that front. He and Amadeus spent the day sparring and refining their strength. The two of them found a surprisingly large amount of common ground between them and shared tips about how they used their quirks. </p><p>Saturday was the day he had been dreading for all week. "Izuku, you and Flash are paired today I know your not on the best of terms but don't kill each other out there," was all Mirio had to say for Flash to lose his smirk on his face.</p><p>Izuku and Flash wound up having to go see Dr.Strange by the end of the day, something that shouldn't have surprised anyone. The festival was only two days away and they were more eager than ever to be at their best.  Murdock entered the classroom at the end of the day and called for the class's attention through his bandages.</p><p>"You survived Hell Week, good work," he began, causing some of the students to make faint noises of happiness. "It only gets harder from here, so don't get complacent, but you should all take tomorrow to rest before the festival. Also tomorrow you will be meeting with the principle about your support gear early in the morning so don't be late."</p><p>Ochaco nodded. <em>'Rest sounds nice.'</em></p><p>"Oh, and problem child," he muttered, causing Izuku to look at him with worried eyes. "Don't forget, you got first place in the entrance exam, which means you're giving the opening speech for your entire class."</p><p>Ochaco's vision snapped to her boyfriend, who looked like he had just seen a ghost. Or twenty.</p><p>Murdock waved his arm casually as he turned to the door.</p><p>"That's all. Good luck on Monday."</p><p>As the class was leaving Izuku was still thinking about the announcement of having to give the opening speech when Ochaco tap on his shoulder.</p><p>"Hey, are you alright Wall-Crawler?" Ochaco asked worried for Izuku.</p><p>"Yeah I am just thinking about something but I'm fine now that you are here," Izuku said with a smile.</p><p>"Well, that's good to hear. So since we off tomorrow do you want to go on a date tomorrow after your meeting with the principle about your support gear?" Ochaco asked while still blushing at Izuku's comment.</p><p>Izuku started to blush at Ochaco's question, "Uh sure yeah I would like that especially after the week we had."</p><p>And with that, both Izuku and Ochaco left class.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Izuku and Denki,  headed to MA early in the morning for there response to their support gear applications with Ochaco following them due to the date her and Izuku were going to go on after he talked with the principle. As they were walking through the gates they noticed that Tenya seemed to be arguing with a girl that was slightly shorter than him.</p><p>"Why exactly did you put that gear on the ticket sister!"</p><p>"Well, I didn't see a problem with it you saw how that girl from your class was able to get all her stuff approved by the principle!"</p><p>"Yeah, she did cause her stuff wasn't powered by something more advanced than an ark reactor! at least you were approved on four of your inventions."</p><p>The trio decided to let the siblings have their moment and just waved at Tenya and head into the school.</p><p> </p><p>When they reached the principle's office Denki was the first one to meet with the principal. It didn't take long for him to come back out with a smile on his face and giving his sister and friend a thumbs up to show his stuff was approved by the principal but he told them he had to leave cause he was going to hang out with Seol for the day. After sitting there for a few moments Izuku was called into the principle's office.</p><p>"Take a seat, Parker. Would you like some tea?" The small white animal principle said while pouring himself a cup of tea. "Yes, please," Izuku responded and the principal poured him a cup of tea and then grabs Izuku's support application. "So let's see here the first item on the list is your mask. If I can take a guess it's for hiding your identity?"</p><p>Izuku nodded.</p><p>"Okay I'll allow it but Stark will have to switch off all the special tech on it so its only purpose is to hide your identity. Now on to the second item of your list your web-shooters, care to explain why you need them?"</p><p>"You see ever since Avenger's Tower I've felt and noticed that my reflexes haven't  as they have been in the past so I feel the web-shooters will help out with that."</p><p>"Hmmmm though the word choice wasn't there I can see where you are getting at so I'll allow them but the special webbing is a different story. Since these webs have been made for so many different situations it would be as if you were cheating if you were able to use all of them so I'm going to limit it to two in which you will pick them before the first game and would keep them throughout your time in the sports festival."</p><p>"So only two special types of webs. I can work with that. Is that all principal?' Izuku asked."No, you haven't finished your tea," Howard said making Izuku start to drink it up a bit faster eager to leave so he can go on his date with Ochaco.</p><p>"Although there is one more thing I want to say," Howard said making Izuku give him a curious look."I know DareDevil has probably told your class that the experience at Avenger's tower was a learning experience for all of your class which it was but I'm sorry of how you turned out by the end of it kid so I just want to say sorry for not picking up on the signs that it was going to happen."</p><p>"You don't have to apologize to me principal I knew the risk when I fought those guys and I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant protecting my classmates."</p><p>"Well that good to hear but don't do it soon cause you still have to live up to being the symbol of peace plus I think your fellow classmate Ochaco won't be too happy at you."</p><p>With this Izuku left so he could go on his date with Ochaco.</p><p> </p><p>Izuku let Ochaco pull him to a small  restaurant close to the school. It was the best she could think up for their impromptu date. They sat next to each other once they were brought to their table.</p><p>They happily enjoyed each others' presence as they looked for what to order. Both of them were too shy to speak. After a few minutes of silence, Izuku decided to try and break the ice.</p><p>"So... Nervous for tomorrow?" Izuku asked.</p><p>"Mhm," Ochaco responded with a short nod.</p><p>"Me too..."</p><p>Ochaco and Izuku went back to their silent selves for a couple more minutes until a thought struck Ochaco. She began chuckling.</p><p>"What's so funny?"</p><p>"We've spent almost every waking moment hanging out with each other. And something so small as a date is what silenced us," Ochaco said.</p><p>Izuku then joined in on the laughter when he saw the comedy of it all. The laughter died down after a bit and they got a bit more comfortable with their situation.</p><p>Once they ordered their food, they once again went silent, but this time, they leaned against one another shoulder to shoulder.</p><p>"I honestly don't know what to say or do on a date," Izuku said shyly.</p><p>"What I've heard is that dates are about enjoying each other's company and getting to know each other. Kinda hard, when we know each other well already," Ochaco said with a short giggle.</p><p>"I don't know... Oh, I forgot to ask how was Hell Week for you when It came to Iron Might's class?" Izuku asked in a jokingly accusatory tone.</p><p>"Hmm, well for the first two days I worked with Amadeus and Eijiro when it came to close range fighting and on the other days, I worked with Mei Seol and Jirou on long-distance fighting," Ochaco said putting her finger to her chin in thought.</p><p>The two had another laugh and their food came. They didn't talk much while eating. After they finished, Izuku insisted he pays for it. Ochaco wasn't having any of it, though.</p><p>"I was the one to have us go today, I'll pay," Ochaco said.</p><p>"But-"</p><p>"But nothing," Ochaco said firmly.</p><p>Izuku sighed. When she was set on something, there was nothing he could do to change her mind.</p><p>"Alright," Izuku conceded.</p><p>"Thank you, Wall-Crawler!" Ochaco said, hugging him.</p><p>Izuku smiled softly, returning her hug. Ochaco paid for their food and they left the restaurant hand in hand.</p><p>"I know it wasn't the best for an impromptu date, but how did you like it?" Ochaco asked.</p><p>"We could have just sat at a park and I would have enjoyed it, Ochaco," Izuku said with a soft smile.</p><p>"Good. I'm glad you enjoyed it," Ochaco said, hugging his arm and placing her head on his shoulder.</p><p>"So do you want to go web-slinging with me again?" Izuku asked trying to keep this date going a bit longer.</p><p>"Sure but this time be a bit slower with the swinging please."</p><p>"I'll see what I can do but no promises."</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the day of the Sports Festival and everyone was excited. Izuku managed to get Ochaco and Denki out of bed on his first try. They were tugging him along and urging him to hurry up. </p><p>Izuku knew the siblings loved the Sports Festival. Every year, they would watch it together. While Izuku would be focused on the quirk side of things, Denki and Ochaco were always watching how people fought. They said that how the people fought reveals things about the combatants. For example, if the pair were going at it super aggressively, they could have a deep-seated hatred of each other.</p><p>When they got to class, the entirety of Class 1-A was brought to a large stadium. From there, the boys and girls were split into two rooms to get changed into the MA's PE clothes. They were told to wait until they were retrieved before leaving the locker rooms.</p><p>Izuku with his mask in hand was sitting at a table that was set in the room, mentally preparing himself for the large crowd that he would be in front of and thinking over the two choices he made for his special webbing. </p><p>"Araña." Izuku heard someone say, breaking him from his concentration.</p><p>Izuku turned towards the voice to see it was Shoto calling his name.</p><p>"Hmm? What is it, Reyes?"</p><p>"I think it's safe to say," he continued, "that I have an advantage over you here. I'm stronger than you." His stare hardened. "I'm going to beat you."</p><p>The atmosphere in the room iced over.</p><p>Izuku and Shoto glared at each other.</p><p>Eijiro was the first to speak. "Hey now, you think you're strong enough to take him on? You saw him at Avenger's Tower."</p><p>"You're right, I did see him at the Avenger's Tower." Shoto's vision never left Izuku. "I saw him beat up, bloodied, and unconscious in the hands of Ochaco."</p><p>A silence hung in the room.</p><p>Izuku expected the conversation to go on, but then they were called to the field.</p><p> </p><p>"AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO! HERE ARE THE CLASSES! FIRST OFF! THE CLASS THAT  THIS STORIES PROTAGONIST IN AND ALSO SURVIVED AVENGER'S TOWER! CLASS 1-A!" Izuku heard Deadpool announce.</p><p>Izuku walked out of the hallway to the field with his class, Ochaco to his side holding his hand. Izuku was glad he had Ochaco by his side because otherwise, he probably would have been a sweating mess.</p><p>Izuku's class got into their place in time for Deadpool to introduce the next class. By the end of the introductions, both heroics classes were present, along with all three general education classes and a few members of the support classes.</p><p>"EVERYONE PLEASE WELCOME OUR UMPIRE, Black Widow!" Deadpool shouted into the mic.</p><p>Black Widow stood atop the podium in front of the group of classes, her hand on her hip, her other hand holding her signature pistol. She didn't say anything while the crowd clapped and cheered for their favorite heroine. Once the cheering died down, she then said what she needed to say.</p><p>"Before we get to the events, Class 1-A's 'Spider-Man' will lead us in the student pledge!"</p><p>Izuku froze at that.  A comforting squeeze of his hand calmed him slightly. He gave Ochaco a thankful smile before going up to the podium.</p><p>Izuku looked at the silent crowd, his nervousness coming back full force as he tried to think of what to say. Taking a deep breath, he spoke.</p><p>"The life of a hero is full of hardship. My class experienced that firsthand in the Avenger's Tower attack. It opened our eyes to the struggles heroes have to go through in challenging villains and protecting people."</p><p>Izuku took a breath to steady himself before continuing.</p><p>"My class, even though we went through something like that, still refuses to give up our dreams of being heroes. Just like we want to be heroes, so do our other classes. 1-B, general studies, and support courses. Everyone wants a chance for people to see that we want to be heroes. That we deserve to be heroes. We want to prove that we are the next generation that will protect people!"</p><p>Izuku glanced back at the crowd of students.</p><p>"I pledge to fight my very hardest! And I want all of you to come at me with everything you got! Doing anything less would be an insult to everyone else. Define our school's motto and go beyond-"</p><p>Everyone spoke up to complete Izuku's sentence.</p><p>
  <b>"EXCELSIOR!"</b>
</p><p>The crowd went crazy at Izuku's speech, cheering and clapping loudly as Izuku stepped down from the podium and went back to his position next to Ochaco. Even the other classes were cheering at Izuku's speech.</p><p>"You did great, Wall-Crawler," Ochaco said, taking hold of his hand again.</p><p>"R-Really? I just said what came to my head." Izuku said shyly.</p><p>Ochaco giggled at her boyfriend's sudden shyness. Her head snapped to Black Widow as she heard a gunshot.</p><p>"What an amazing speech from Spider-Man! With that, let us get into the first event! The Obstacle Race!" Black Widow announced.</p><p>The students broke up in groups as they got ready for the race. Ochaco looked to Izuku and smiled at him. He smiled back and then turned to Denki who just took on his goggles and gave him a smile in which he returned the favor</p><p>"3 2 1 LETS JAM!" Deadpool announced in his usual loud voice. Izuku immediately used his web-shooters and flew through the tunnel, ahead of everyone who got stuck. He slowed down after he got through it since it was a more open area without much high ground to shoot webs at. Behind him, many had been frozen in place by Jirou, but quickly Shoto had melted himself a path out of it and soon more people figured out there own way out of it mostly from class 1-a.</p><p>"CLASS 1-A TAKES THE LEAD. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT DAREDEVIL!"</p><p>Daredevil was picked as the second announcer for the sports festival due to still being injured form the events of Avenger's Tower.</p><p>"It's not that there better than everyone else. It's that they all have learned to react faster in tense situations after what they experienced at Avenger's Tower." </p><p>Izuku was so distracted from what was happening behind him that he almost crashed face-first into a zero-point robot if it wasn't for his spider-sense.</p><p>"AND IT LOOKS LIKE SPIDER-MAN HAS MADE IT TO THE FIRST OBSTACLE!"</p><p>Izuku quickly switched to his electric webbing, one of the special webs he picked and shot it at the robot causing it to fall. While switching back to his regular web Jirou quickly froze all the other robots. Izuku tried to use the height of the zero pointer robots to move forward but Shoto quickly melted away the ice causing the robots to collapse making Izuku having to use some of the 2 point robots to move instead.</p><p>Izuku then continued to run still pulling ahead in first place. Soon the next obstacle came into view. A giant canyon with multiple small pillar islands in it connected by wires. <em>'This is perfect for me' </em>Izuku thought as he saw other competitors busy trying to get to the other side of the canyon. Izuku leaped and jumped into the canyon.</p><p> "MAN TALK ABOUT JUMPING IN HEAD FIRST! SPIDERMAN STRAIT UP SWAN DIVED INTO THE CANYON!"</p><p>After falling for a bit Izuku shot out a web and started going between the pillars.</p><p>"AND REYES TAKES FIRST PLACE WITH FLASH PULLING IN SECOND AND LEAVING SPIDERMAN IN THIRD. WHAT AND EXCITING TURN OF EVENTS!"</p><p>After hearing the announcement of the updated rankings Izuku started to bounce off the pillars one by one reaching higher and higher until finally, he was at the end of the canyon. Izuku started to run when he heard Deadpool make another announcement.</p><p>"REYES IS FIRST TO MAKE IT TO THE FOURTH OBSTACLE! WITH FLASH QUICKLY GAINING ON HIM!"</p><p>"Do you have to be so loud Deadpool?"</p><p>Izuku made it to the fourth obstacle it was an open area with bumps in the ground. Right, when he was about to step on a bump his spider-sense went off.</p><p>
  <em>'Whatever is in the ground must be the obstacles. Meaning I can't allow them to slow me down.'</em>
</p><p>Izuku then used his spider-sense to start speeding through like there wasn't any obstacle there in the first place. He soon caught up with Flash and Reyes. Suddenly a giant explosion of pink dust and gas blew up into the sky.</p><p>"LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE OUR FIRST VICTIM OF THE LANDMINE FIELD!"</p><p>Izuku wasn't paying attention as he was about to pass Flash.</p><p>"BUT, WHAT'S THIS SPIDER-MAN IS PULLING AHEAD AGAIN! HE MUST BE A PRO AT DANCE REVOLUTION!"</p><p>Izuku was mere feet away from passing Flash.</p><p>"Hey Flash!"</p><p>"What you stupid Wall-Crawler!"</p><p>Izuku then looked Flash dead in the eyes.</p><p><em>'I've always wanted to say this,'</em>Izuku thought as he gave Flash a smile</p><p>"On your left."</p><p>Izuku then went back to facing forwards again and then just flew right pass Flash.</p><p>"DAMMIT WALL-CRAWLER IM GOING TO KILL YOU NOW!"</p><p>Soon Izuku was catching up to Shoto.</p><p>Shoto grew furious as he saw that Izuku was now in second place and shot a fire attack at him to try and slow him down.</p><p>"I'll SURPASS YOU ARAÑA !"</p><p>Izuku jumped over the attack the fire then started to blow up a few of the mines making Shoto lose his balance. This gave Izuku the chance to pull ahead to first place.</p><p>Flash then started to shoot black tendrils to get him closer to Izuku and Shoto was using his fire to try and catch up Izuku as well.</p><p>Izuku's head was buzzing off like crazy. There was so much happening all around him his spider-sense could catch up with what was happening around him. Suddenly both Flash and Shoto shot an attack at Izuku causing the surrounding mines to explode shooting them all forward out of the fourth obstacle. As the three were trying to recover from the explosion their mouths all drop at once when they saw a white streak pass through the minefield slowing down when he reaches the three</p><p>Denki gave them a smirk, "You didn't see that coming?"</p><p>Denki then went back to full speed.</p><p>"IN A SURPRISE TURN OF EVENTS JUST TO MAKE THE PLOT DIFFERENT FROM CANON DENKI MAXIMOFF TAKES FIRST PLACE OF THE OBSTACLE RACE IT IS STILL A EQUAL GAME FOR SECOND AND THIRD WHO WILL TAKE THOSE SPOTS!"</p><p>Izuku, Flash, and Shoto immediately got up and started to run as fast as they could to get the other to coveted spots of the obstacle race. All three of them were using their quirks to there fullest ability until finally.....</p><p>"COMING UP IN SECOND PLACE IS 'SPIDER-MAN' THEN THIRD SHOTO REYES AND FOUTH EUGENE 'FLASH' BAKUGO!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Soon after Flash finished, the rest of the students arrived inside the stadium.</p><p>"WITH THE LAST STUDENT ARRIVING, WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT EVENT! SADLY, WE CAN'T HAVE EVERYONE MOVE ON TO THE NEXT EVENT! SO THE TOP FORTY-TWO ARE MOVING ON! BUT DON'T LEAVE JUST YET, EXTRAS! THERE WILL BE ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF THE MAIN TOURNAMENT THAT YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN!" Deadpool shouted.</p><p>"Direct your attention to the wheel!" BlackWidow commanded, gesturing to it with her pistol.</p><p>The wheel began spinning. The students looked on in anticipation, Izuku included, as the next event was decided. The wheel soon came to a stop landing on "Cavalry Battle".</p><p>"AND THE NEXT EVENT WILL BE THE CAVALRY BATTLE! THERE WILL BE A SHORT INTERMISSION TO TELL THE COMPETITORS AND READERS THE RULES AS WELL AS PREPARE THE FIELD FOR THIS EVENT!" Deadpool announced.</p><p>"Alright! Before you go off making teams, I will tell you the rules! The leader of each team will be given a headband with a point number on it. Those people are going to be the riders. The rest of the team will carry the rider in a horse configuration. You can have a maximum of four team members and support gear can be used by all of your teammates! Now, to show the points!"</p><p>The top forty-two competitors were shown on a ranking board. Each one had a point value next to their name. What caught everyone else's attention was Denki getting one million points.</p><p>Izuku looked to Denki to see him staring in shock at the scoreboard. </p><p>
  <em>'I can't tell if he is more shocked over the points he was given or the rules saying he won't be able to use his quirk cause he has to be the rider.'</em>
</p><p>Izuku broke from his thoughts when he felt Ochaco squeeze his hand</p><p>"I'm going to be teaming up with Denki want to join, me?" Ochaco said.</p><p>Izuku looked at his girlfriend before a small smile formed on his face. He nodded and squeezed Ochaco's hand gently.</p><p>"You may now make your teams! You have fifteen minutes!" Blackwidow announced.</p><p>Ochaco and Izuku quickly let go of there hands and went to where Denki was standing. Ochaco tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention as he seemed to be still in shocked. He turned around quickly to see both them</p><p>"Can we both be on your team, "Ochaco asked with a smile.</p><p>"Uh yes of course though everyone will be after us though, "Denki said dumbfounded that anyone wanted to be on his team after the reveal of how many points he got."We know that, but as long as they don't catch us nothing would happen right?"Izuku added to get Denki back into a competitive mindset. Izuku's words seem to do their entended job.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah your right Izuku and I think I have a plan for how we can do it. We just need one more person on our team for it to work."</p><p>As if the plot demanded it Denki, Izuku, and Ochaco heard someone yell at them, "Ahhh ha I finally found you guys!"</p><p>They turned to see T'challa's sister walking towards them.</p><p>"Hi! I know we haven't formally met yet so let's start with that my name is Shuri, Ida's sister, can I join your team?"</p><p>"Yeah sure but why do you have all that support gear though?" Denki asked."I thought T'challa would have already told you unless your dumber then you look and forgot I'm from the support department, so I can mostly use all the inventions I made." Suddenly she looked at Izuku's wrists, "But the more important question is are these your actual web-shooters!" "Uh oh yes they are but they are somewhat limited in what they can do..." Izuku then went on rambling of what all his web-shooters could do before quickly snapping out of hit with a punch to the shoulder by Denki. "Hey remember Wall-Crawler we still have to make a plan and lucky for you it involves those web-shooters."</p><p> </p><p>"I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE MADE YOUR TEAMS AND A SOUND STRATEGY BECAUSE THE CAVALRY BATTLES IS STARTING, NOW!" Deadpool announced. All the teams started to put their plans into action, most of them running straight for Denki's team to try and get the one million points. Denki's team, however, was very much prepared for this. First Ochaco used her quirk to cancel out the team's gravity while Shuri used one of her inventions to let them gain height. When they flew above the other teams Izuku was able to use his web-shooters to the fullest out manoeuvering all other teams that could still reach them. When they eventually landed they used another one of Shuri's inventions to soften the landing.</p><p>They managed to keep up this strategy for a good amount of time and avoided any confrontation unless it was needed. Eventually, most teams had lost their headbands and now it was only a few teams that had most of the points. Denki's team had just flown across the field again when someone came shooting out of the air at them, "THAT HEADBAND IS MINE SPEEDSTER!" Flash yelled coming towards them by propelling himself with black tendrils. Shuri quickly fired a shot off from one of her gauntlets at Flash which somehow nullified his quick causing him to fall to the ground but was quickly caught by his team.</p><p>With two minutes left Izuku thought his team could get first place, however, the world had a different plan for his team. They were about to take another jump across the field when suddenly a  shot of fire destroyed their hoover boots, making them incapable of making a safe landing if they went for another jump. Izuku and his team looked toward the source of the sudden attack to see Shoto's team. His team consisted of him T'challa, Tokoyami, and Mei. Suddenly Shoto shoots out a massive shot of fire that forms a circle surrounding the two teams.</p><p>Izuku noticed that Mei had given her team their own set of boots but didn't know what they did until he saw the team quickly running at an incredible speed leaving little time for Denki to think."Ochaco make us weightless everyone else cover your eyes!" Shuri shouts getting an immediate response. She then proceeds to switch a setting on her gauntlets and shot a flash at Shoto's team but is neglected by one of Mei's inventions.</p><p>"Dang it! Spider! I need your help here!" Shuri shouts. Izuku quickly opens his eyes and quickly shoots out a web at the wall of a stadium as Shuri fires off one of her inventions to drag their team away for Shoto's. The two teams kept chasing each other for a minute around the ring of fire even after both Mei's and Shuri's inventions lost power and had to charge up again. Suddenly Izuku's spider-sense went off and he looked to see that Tokoyami teleported his team in front of them Izuku then noticed that Shoto's skin around his face was starting to burn as he was about to shoot off another attack of fire at them but suddenly he put it out this gave Izuku time to shoot a web at an opposite wall of the stadium narrowly avoiding Shoto's team.</p><p>"AND ZERO! THE CAVALRY BATTLE IS NOW OVER! WHAT A ROLLERCOASTER OF EVENTS THAT HAS BEEN! AND IS NOW TIME FOR THE CHAPTERS YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR THE BATTLE TOURNAMENT ROUNDS!"</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"ALRIGHT! THE TOP FOUR TEAMS ARE MOVING ON TO THE THIRD AND FINAL EVENT! THOSE TOP FOUR TEAMS ARE TEAM DENKI! TEAM SHOTO! TEAM FLASH! AND TEAM- WOAH LIKE A RKO OUT OF KNOW WHERE TEAM SHINSOU IN FOUTH! BUT FIRST! WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A ONE HOUR LUNCH BREAK TO FIX THE FIELD AND FILL OUR BELLIES FOR THE COMING EVENT!"</p>
<p>Izuku could feel his team's excitement.</p>
<p>Their excitement became tenfold as they were revealed to be in the first place. Ochaco squealed and glomped Izuku into a hug. Izuku was laughing, returning his girlfriends' hug happily. He looked up to see Denki and Shuri watching them with an amused smile. They gave Izuku a thumbs up and he returned the gesture.</p>
<p>Ochaco finally got off Izuku and helped him up. He wore a smile on his face. Throughout the announcement, he was secretly peppered with kisses from his girlfriend.</p>
<p>"C'mon, let's get some food," Ochaco said about to take his hand.</p>
<p>"Araña," Shoto called.</p>
<p>Izuku glanced at Shoto with a raised eyebrow. Ochaco was also looking at him, but a more cautious expression on his face.</p>
<p>"Can we speak in private?" Shoto asked.</p>
<p>Izuku watched him for a moment before he and Ochaco looked at each other. He nodded at her with a smile.</p>
<p>"I'll get some food for you," Ochaco said.</p>
<p>"Thanks, Ochaco," Izuku said, he then quickly pulled his mask up a little and quickly kissed her on her cheek.</p>
<p>Izuku followed Shoto to a secluded spot.<br/><br/><br/></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Todoroki stared at Izuku as they stood in a hallway. He stared unblinkingly, having Izuku think that Shoto was trying to intimidate him.</p>
<p>"Uh, we don't have forever to get food. I'm kinda hungry from the Cavalry Battle, too." Izuku said, attempting to start a conversation.</p>
<p>The green-haired boy's statement was met with silence. </p>
<p>"If this is all you want to do, I'm going to leave-"</p>
<p>"I almost broke my oath," Shoto said.</p>
<p>"Huh?" Izuku raised his eyebrow.</p>
<p>Shoto looked away slightly, visibly disappointed. "Tell me, Midoriya, what do you know about... the Spirit of Vengeance?"</p>
<p>The blood in Izuku's veins ran cold but he was able to reply.</p>
<p>"Well according to the man himself The Spirit of Vengeance is supposedly the divine wrath of God, while according to others it's a demonic entity. Regardless of its muddled origins, its powers are 'boundless" and "god-like' capable of doing incredible feats and competence as making it one of the strongest and most powerful quirks. to exist."</p>
<p>Shoto gave Izuku a smirk as he finished."It seems you know your stuff Araña."</p>
<p>But suddenly Shoto lost his smirk and looked down at his hand.</p>
<p>"Though my quirk is very similar to that of a spirit of vengeance it has a troubling origin.</p>
<p>Shoto looked up to Izuku who gave him a nod to continue</p>
<p> " I was a part-time mechanic working in East Los Angeles. The neighborhood I lived in was plagued with gangs and corruption, making life difficult for me and my older sister, Fuyumi, who I looked up to as a hero. Eager to move to a safer neighborhood, I entered a street race to earn fifty thousand dollars. Unknown to me, the car I used was inhabited by a spirit. As I was taking the lead; however, I was followed by who I assumed to be cops. Worried about what would happen to my sister without me, I tried to escape but inadvertently drove into a dead end. I left the car and attempted to explain himself to his pursuers.... .only for them to violently open fire upon me, killing me."</p>
<p>Shoto then stoped his story for a few seconds to compose himself before he continues.</p>
<p> "They attempted to burn the car and my body; however, as they left, the ghost possessed me, transforming myself into... a demon. The demon gave chase and managed to take out all of my attackers. I woke up the next morning, hoping the events had simply been a mess up nightmare; however the moment I looked into a mirror I saw a version of the demon that appeared as my reflection, and I asked it what it is, to which it responded; 'The real question is... what are <em>we</em>?' The demon revealed itself to be a spirit named, Eli and offered me a chance to seek vengeance towards those who have done me and my sister wrong. After some brief thought, I declined by smashing the mirror. Then I heard a knock on the front door and to no surprise a few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents where there they asked to come in and asked me to explain what happened the night before and after they heard my side of the story they gave me two options one was that I was going to jail for a long time or two I go to M.A. to learn how to control my quirk then become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. after graduation as you can tell you know what option I took."</p>
<p>As he finished the story there was an awkward silence between the two. Until Shoto looked down at his hand again. "That day I swore he would never take over my body and I swore to never use <em>his </em>fire ever."</p>
<p>Shoto began walking away.</p>
<p>"Shoto," Izuku called after him.</p>
<p>Shouto turned around to face Izuku.</p>
<p>"I  will never understand what you went through I think nobody else could, but when you can do the things that you can do, but you don't, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you," Izuku said, making Shouto pause before he walked away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Izuku arrived at the cafeteria. Almost immediately, he saw a conversation between Mei and Shuri about the technology they used in the calvary battle he then saw Ochaco and Denki waving him over. He smiled, heading over to his friends. When Izuku reached the table, Ochaco slid over a plate of Izuku's favorite food. Izuku's mouth watered at the sight.</p>
<p>"So what did he want to talk about?" Denki asked as Izuku sat down.</p>
<p>"He told me the story of his quirk. It's rather private stuff, so I'd rather not say much." Izuku said.</p>
<p>Denki and Ochaco nodded in understanding.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The three continued eating in silence. Once finished, they had idle conversations about if they'd be matched up against one another.</p>
<p>"ALRIIIIIGGGGHHHHTTTTT!!! WILL EVERYONE RETURN TO THE STANDS PLEASE! WE'RE GONNA GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Deadpool yelled over the intercom.</p>
<p>Everyone in the cafeteria began filing out to the stands so they can finally start the last event of the sports festival.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for the hiatus I wanted to plan out the rounds before writing them so hope you understand. And tomorrow will officially start the rounds.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Before we begin, let's all go over the rules! You will fight in one on one battles. To win in a battle, your opponent must be unable to continue or across the line on the perimeter of this field! Knockouts are also acceptable if unintentional! Do not purposely injure your opponents! That is grounds for disqualification or worse. Lastly, your opponents will be decided by lots! Do you understand the rules?"</p>
<p>"Yes, ma'am!" The students shouted in reply.</p>
<p>The students were allowed to go to their class' viewing areas while their opponents were being decided.</p>
<p>Izuku and Ochaco got to the 1-A section of the stands, sitting together as the tournament bracket was announced. Looking onto the board, they see the pairings for the first fights.</p>
<p><b>"Welcome back!"</b> Just the sound of Deadpool's voice caused the stadium to erupt in cheers. <b>"It's time for our final competition for the day and I have to say, you're all in for a treat!" </b>The screen behind him lit up with a 16 person bracket. <b>"It's time for a tournament!"</b></p>
<p>Polite applause filled the arena.</p>
<p>
  <b>"Now, for our bracket! Bear in mind that these placements were completely random and totally not plot convenient! Keep your eyes on the screen, folks, this is sure to be a wild time!"</b>
</p>
<p>Every eye was on the bracket as names appeared.</p>
<p>
  <b>            Eugene Bakugou vs. Ochaco Maximoff</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>             Shuri vs. Denki Maximoff</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>              Tenaya T'challa vs. Sam Aoyama</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  
  <b> Mei Williams vs. Mina Khan</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>            Eijirou Rand vs. Shang Tetsutetsu</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>             Ibarra Bowen vs. Tyrone Tokoyami</b>
</p>
<p>
  <b>            Hitoshi Chung vs. "Spider-Man"</b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <b>             Shouto Reyes vs. Laura Yaoyorozu</b>
</p>
<p>"I guess I gotta get going now," Ochaco said, standing from her seat.</p>
<p>"I'll come with," Izuku said quickly standing up.</p>
<p>Izuku and Ochaco left the viewing box for 1-A.</p>
<p>The pair walk down the hallway to the ready room hand in hand, a silence passing over the both of them. </p>
<p>The pair reached the ready room and entered together. Izuku released her hand and pulled her into a hug. The pair pulled back after the hug and Ochaco gained a wry smile. She took the back of Izuku's head and pulled his face towards her, placing a passionate kiss on his lips. After a moment, Izuku returned the kiss with as much passion as her.</p>
<p>Pulling back, they rested their foreheads against each other.</p>
<p>"Good luck," Izuku whispered.</p>
<p>Ochaco gained a soft smile.</p>
<p>"You better watch me," Ochaco whispered.</p>
<p>"I will," Izuku said.</p>
<p>Ochaco pecked Izuku's lips once before she left. Izuku watched after her for a moment before jogging back to his class' viewing box.</p>
<p>Izuku reached the viewing box and sat in his seat, looking on in excitement.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ochako's heart was pounding in her ears as she stepped onto the concrete stage. Deadpool and BlackWidow were speaking, but just like most of the other fighters that day, she wasn't listening. Instead, her entire focus was on the blonde man in front of her. Her opponent. Her obstacle. Her test.</p>
<p>Her quirk had limitations. She knew that, understood it.</p>
<p>But she wasn't at MA to learn about her limitations. She was here to learn how to overcome them.</p>
<p>Flash had a strange grimace on his face as he kept his eyes glued to Ochaco.</p>
<p>BlackWidow walked forward and looked at the two competitors, covering her microphone. "I want a clean fight if either of you goes too far, Forge and I will stop you."</p>
<p>Ochaco nodded and Flash grunted in affirmation.</p>
<p>BlackWidow spoke into her microphone again. <b>"Our competitors are ready!"</b></p>
<p>
  <b>"Begin!"</b>
</p>
<p>Ochako kicked off, running towards Bakugou as fast as she could. </p>
<p>Flash narrowed his eyes and pulled his right arm back, ready to blow her away. He was no idiot, he knew the stakes when it came to her quirk. He just had to keep her away, which meant the burden of winning was on her. She had to make things happen, not him.</p>
<p>She lunged as he threw his hand forward, trying to dodge his punch, but to no avail. She was blasted as a massive smoke cloud billowed from the destruction of the ring.</p>
<p>Just as she planned.</p>
<p>Right before he had let lose his punch, she had dragged her hands along the ground, removing the mass from some of the concrete and holding it inside herself. Due to the increased mass, she wasn't blasted back very far at all... much less than he expected.</p>
<p>But damn did it <em>hurt</em>.</p>
<p>She touched her arm and shoved the excess mass back into the floor as she lunged out of the smoke. Bakugou's eyes went wide as she reappeared much sooner than he had anticipated.</p>
<p>Her open hand extended towards him, reaching to touch his shoulder.</p>
<p>In a flash, he reacted. His right hand shot up and grabbed her wrist as his left hand curled into a fist and slammed into her ribs, driving the wind out of her lungs.</p>
<p>While she gasped, he jumped back, distancing himself before she could swing at him with her left palm.</p>
<p>Both students took a moment to catch their breaths. Ochako wiped her mouth as she panted, glaring at her opponent, who looked a little unsettled that she had gotten so close to winning so quickly.</p>
<p> His hands started to turn black and were getting sharper. "I'll admit you have a flashy Quirk, but let's see how it compares to mine." Flash quickly rushed her and though she tried to dodge she took a massive punch cutting her face pushing her to the edge of the ring." Quirk or not you'll never beat me you, <b>SCARLET WITCH </b>so don't hold back!" Flash yelled</p>
<p>Ochaco felt something in her snap as she thought back on Flash's words she didn't know how he learned about that nickname but at that moment she didn't care. "You don't want me to hold back? <b>FINE</b>!" Her body erupted in latent power. She then charged at Katsuki.</p>
<p> As the sparks arced off of her form, Flash's eyes widened in shock, but he quickly got back into a fighting stance and charged at her.</p>
<p> Ochaco felt different this time, her quirk felt more chaotic and she felt she was more of a passenger in her body then actually controlling it. Though it seems her body still knew her plan she kept herself low to maximize the amount of damage he did to the ground. She drew the mass into herself again as she was met with another explosion. This time, Bakugou didn't let up. As soon as the smoke cleared itself enough for him to see her again, he was ready with another punch.</p>
<p>She cried out in pain as she was driven back.</p>
<p>Bakugou's plan was just what she had expected. Keep his distance and wear her down. Unless she could get past his defenses, she had no shot. It was just a matter of time.</p>
<p>She winced slightly as she breathed. She didn't have too many chances left.</p>
<p>But Ochako wasn't done. Her plan was nearly ready to go.</p>
<p>Again, Flash met her charge with a staggering punch. She vaguely noted that BlackWidow was shouting at someone in the stands, but due to her out of body experience she was in she couldn't hear it clearly. Whatever they were saying wasn't relevant; all that mattered to her quirk was finishing Flash.</p>
<p>The smoke billowed around her, concealing her again. She heard Flash backing away to make sure she couldn't touch him, preparing himself to blow her back again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ochako burst out of the smoke, Bakugou's eyes widening as she appeared behind him.</p>
<p>Her hand reached out as she lunged toward the surprised man.</p>
<p>Ochako was flung backward as Flash punched her in the face.</p>
<p>She flew through the air, slamming into the ground and skidding several feet before she stopped. Ochako grits her teeth again and pulled herself up.</p>
<p><em>Damn, </em>she was hurting. If it wasn't for her training during Hell Week and her quirk basically controlling her body, she might not have been able to pull herself up. </p>
<p> The constant ebb and flow of mass throughout her body were taking its toll as well, not to mention the strain of holding the miniature asteroid belt above the arena aloft.</p>
<p>Ochako took solace that she only needed one more round of rubble for her trap to be ready. Just one mo-</p>
<p>
  <b>"Woah! What's that plot convenient thing floating above the battlefield?!"</b>
</p>
<p>Flash's vision snapped upward. He took a stunning step backward as he saw the mass of debris floating above, ready to strike.</p>
<p>Well, it was now or never. Ochako slammed her fingers together, finally releasing her quirk. She planned to release it while he was focused on her, preventing him from being able to react, but now he had plenty of time.</p>
<p>Ochaco knew he didn't have the firepower to blow that meteor storm out of the sky. </p>
<p>Flash's left arm reached up to brace his right as he tried to form a shield.</p>
<p>Ochaco began to run forward, every step causing her body to scream in protest but her quirk continued to push her. Flash coughed and sputtered, staggered by her attack, his counter fading in his fingertips. He attempted to raise his hand to the sky again, but rubble began to slam down all around him, the massive chunks of falling concrete barely missing his body. One caught him in the shoulder and wrenched his arm away, causing him to grunt in pain and annoyance.</p>
<p>Left. Right. As fast as she could, she willed her legs forward. Already, her opponent was recovering, holding his left hand above him to protect his head as rubble continued to fall around and on him. She knew where the gaps in the meteor shower were, allowing her a clear path to her target.</p>
<p>Ochaco planted her feet and stick her hand out.</p>
<p>Immediately Flash was off his feet and his neck was in the hand of Ochaco.</p>
<p><b>"Any last words Flash before I end this," </b>Ochaco said though it seemed as if someone else was talking through her.</p>
<p>"Well.... since you mention it..... yeah I do......MASK!"</p>
<p>"<b><em>COPY</em></b>!"</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Before we begin, let's all go over the rules! You will fight in one on one battles. To win in a battle, your opponent must be unable to continue or across the line on the perimeter of this field! Knockouts are also acceptable if unintentional! Do not purposely injure your opponents! That is grounds for disqualification or worse. Lastly, your opponents will be decided by lots! Do you understand the rules?"</p><p>"Yes, ma'am!" The students shouted in reply.</p><p>The students were allowed to go to their class' viewing areas while their opponents were being decided.</p><p>Izuku and Ochaco got to the 1-A section of the stands, sitting together as the tournament bracket was announced. Looking onto the board, they see the pairings for the first fights.</p><p><b>"Welcome back!"</b> Just the sound of Deadpool's voice caused the stadium to erupt in cheers. <b>"It's time for our final competition for the day and I have to say, you're all in for a treat!" </b>The screen behind him lit up with a 16 person bracket. <b>"It's time for a tournament!"</b></p><p>Polite applause filled the arena.</p><p>
  <b>"Now, for our bracket! Bear in mind that these placements were completely random and totally not plot convenient! Keep your eyes on the screen, folks, this is sure to be a wild time!"</b>
</p><p>Every eye was on the bracket as names appeared.</p><p>
  <b>                                                               Eugene Bakugou vs. Ochaco Maximoff</b>
</p><p>
  <b>                                                                                Shuri vs. Denki Maximoff</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>                                                                  Tenaya T'challa vs. Sam Aoyama</b>
  <b>
    <br/>
  </b>
</p><p>
  
  <b> Mei Williams vs. Mina Khan</b>
</p><p>
  <b>                                                                  Eijirou Rand vs. Shang Tetsutetsu</b>
</p><p>
  <b>                                                                Ibarra Bowen vs. Tyrone Tokoyami</b>
</p><p>
  <b>                                                                    Hitoshi Chung vs. "Spider-Man"</b>
  
</p><p>
  <b>                                                               Shouto Reyes vs. Laura Yaoyorozu</b>
</p><p>"I guess I gotta get going now," Ochaco said, standing from her seat.</p><p>"I'll come with," Izuku said quickly standing up.</p><p>Izuku and Ochaco left the viewing box for 1-A.</p><p>The pair walk down the hallway to the ready room hand in hand, a silence passing over the both of them. </p><p>The pair reached the ready room and entered together. Izuku released her hand and pulled her into a hug. The pair pulled back after the hug and Ochaco gained a wry smile. She took the back of Izuku's head and pulled his face towards her, placing a passionate kiss on his lips. After a moment, Izuku returned the kiss with as much passion as her.</p><p>Pulling back, they rested their foreheads against each other.</p><p>"Good luck," Izuku whispered.</p><p>Ochaco gained a soft smile.</p><p>"You better watch me," Ochaco whispered.</p><p>"I will," Izuku said.</p><p>Ochaco pecked Izuku's lips once before she left. Izuku watched after her for a moment before jogging back to his class' viewing box.</p><p>Izuku reached the viewing box and sat in his seat, looking on in excitement.</p><p> </p><p>Ochako's heart was pounding in her ears as she stepped onto the concrete stage. Deadpool and BlackWidow were speaking, but just like most of the other fighters that day, she wasn't listening. Instead, her entire focus was on the blonde man in front of her. Her opponent. Her obstacle. Her test.</p><p>Her quirk had limitations. She knew that, understood it.</p><p>But she wasn't at MA to learn about her limitations. She was here to learn how to overcome them.</p><p>Flash had a strange grimace on his face as he kept his eyes glued to Ochaco.</p><p>BlackWidow walked forward and looked at the two competitors, covering her microphone. "I want a clean fight if either of you goes too far, Forge and I will stop you."</p><p>Ochaco nodded and Flash grunted in affirmation.</p><p>BlackWidow spoke into her microphone again. <b>"Our competitors are ready!"</b></p><p>
  <b>"Begin!"</b>
</p><p>Ochako kicked off, running towards Bakugou as fast as she could. </p><p>Flash narrowed his eyes and pulled his right arm back, ready to blow her away. He was no idiot, he knew the stakes when it came to her quirk. He just had to keep her away, which meant the burden of winning was on her. She had to make things happen, not him.</p><p>She lunged as he threw his hand forward, trying to dodge his punch, but to no avail. She was blasted as a massive smoke cloud billowed from the destruction of the ring.</p><p>Just as she planned.</p><p>Right before he had let lose his punch, she had dragged her hands along the ground, removing the mass from some of the concrete and holding it inside herself. Due to the increased mass, she wasn't blasted back very far at all... much less than he expected.</p><p>But damn did it <em>hurt</em>.</p><p>She touched her arm and shoved the excess mass back into the floor as she lunged out of the smoke. Bakugou's eyes went wide as she reappeared much sooner than he had anticipated.</p><p>Her open hand extended towards him, reaching to touch his shoulder.</p><p>In a flash, he reacted. His right hand shot up and grabbed her wrist as his left hand curled into a fist and slammed into her ribs, driving the wind out of her lungs.</p><p>While she gasped, he jumped back, distancing himself before she could swing at him with her left palm.</p><p>Both students took a moment to catch their breaths. Ochako wiped her mouth as she panted, glaring at her opponent, who looked a little unsettled that she had gotten so close to winning so quickly.</p><p> His hands started to turn black and were getting sharper. "I'll admit you have a flashy Quirk, but let's see how it compares to mine." Flash quickly rushed her and though she tried to dodge she took a massive punch cutting her face pushing her to the edge of the ring." Quirk or not you'll never beat me you, <b>SCARLET WITCH </b>so don't hold back!" Flash yelled</p><p>Ochaco felt something in her snap as she thought back on Flash's words she didn't know how he learned about that nickname but at that moment she didn't care. "You don't want me to hold back? <b>FINE</b>!" Her body erupted in latent power. She then charged at Katsuki.</p><p> As the sparks arced off of her form, Flash's eyes widened in shock, but he quickly got back into a fighting stance and charged at her.</p><p> Ochaco felt different this time, her quirk felt more chaotic and she felt she was more of a passenger in her body then actually controlling it. Though it seems her body still knew her plan she kept herself low to maximize the amount of damage he did to the ground. She drew the mass into herself again as she was met with another explosion. This time, Bakugou didn't let up. As soon as the smoke cleared itself enough for him to see her again, he was ready with another punch.</p><p>She cried out in pain as she was driven back.</p><p>Bakugou's plan was just what she had expected. Keep his distance and wear her down. Unless she could get past his defenses, she had no shot. It was just a matter of time.</p><p>She winced slightly as she breathed. She didn't have too many chances left.</p><p>But Ochako wasn't done. Her plan was nearly ready to go.</p><p>Again, Flash met her charge with a staggering punch. She vaguely noted that BlackWidow was shouting at someone in the stands, but due to her out of body experience she was in she couldn't hear it clearly. Whatever they were saying wasn't relevant; all that mattered to her quirk was finishing Flash.</p><p>The smoke billowed around her, concealing her again. She heard Flash backing away to make sure she couldn't touch him, preparing himself to blow her back again.</p><p> </p><p>Ochako burst out of the smoke, Bakugou's eyes widening as she appeared behind him.</p><p>Her hand reached out as she lunged toward the surprised man.</p><p>Ochako was flung backward as Flash punched her in the face.</p><p>She flew through the air, slamming into the ground and skidding several feet before she stopped. Ochako grits her teeth again and pulled herself up.</p><p><em>Damn, </em>she was hurting. If it wasn't for her training during Hell Week and her quirk basically controlling her body, she might not have been able to pull herself up. </p><p> The constant ebb and flow of mass throughout her body were taking its toll as well, not to mention the strain of holding the miniature asteroid belt above the arena aloft.</p><p>Ochako took solace that she only needed one more round of rubble for her trap to be ready. Just one mo-</p><p>
  <b>"Woah! What's that plot convenient thing floating above the battlefield?!"</b>
</p><p>Flash's vision snapped upward. He took a stunning step backward as he saw the mass of debris floating above, ready to strike.</p><p>Well, it was now or never. Ochako slammed her fingers together, finally releasing her quirk. She planned to release it while he was focused on her, preventing him from being able to react, but now he had plenty of time.</p><p>Ochaco knew he didn't have the firepower to blow that meteor storm out of the sky. </p><p>Flash's left arm reached up to brace his right as he tried to form a shield.</p><p>Ochaco began to run forward, every step causing her body to scream in protest but her quirk continued to push her. Flash coughed and sputtered, staggered by her attack, his counter fading in his fingertips. He attempted to raise his hand to the sky again, but rubble began to slam down all around him, the massive chunks of falling concrete barely missing his body. One caught him in the shoulder and wrenched his arm away, causing him to grunt in pain and annoyance.</p><p>Left. Right. As fast as she could, she willed her legs forward. Already, her opponent was recovering, holding his left hand above him to protect his head as rubble continued to fall around and on him. She knew where the gaps in the meteor shower were, allowing her a clear path to her target.</p><p>Ochaco planted her feet and stick her hand out.</p><p>Immediately Flash was off his feet and his neck was in the hand of Ochaco.</p><p><b>"Any last words Flash before I end this," </b>Ochaco said though it seemed as if someone else was talking through her.</p><p>"Well.... since you mention it..... yeah I do......MASK!"</p><p>"<b><em>COPY</em></b>!"</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>"Ochaco Maximoff is out of bounds, Flash advances to the next round!"</b>
</p>
<p>The entire crowd was silent.</p>
<p>Flash had won.</p>
<p>Ochaco had lost.</p>
<p>The vicious glow in Ochaco's eyes was fluctuating, fading, and returning erratically. Ochaco suddenly clutched her head with both hands as a horrific scream tore from her throat.  Black Widow quickly reacting went to grab onto her and took her to the infirmary.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Izuku's hand was over his mouth as he sat next to Ochaco's bed in the arena infirmary, watching Denki's match on the television; he didn't know whether to let it smile or let it drop open. His best friend had spent the first several minutes of his 'fight' just stretching on the far side of the arena while Shuri gave what amounted to a sales pitch for each of her inventions she was going to be using in the match.</p>
<p>She had brought a voice amplifier along with her, another one of her inventions, and was just... selling herself like she was on an infomercial or something.</p>
<p>"Is she for real?"  Izuku asked T'challa who was sitting on the other side of Ochaco.</p>
<p>T'challa nodded. "I just didn't figure Denki for someone who would let her get away with this."</p>
<p>"I know what you mean." Izuku smiled softly. "I'm proud of him."</p>
<p>T'challa and he both laughed as Shuri finished her pitch, informing the audience that she would be 'demonstrating her inventions with the help of her lovely assistant.' They both saw Denki's eyebrows twitch in annoyance, causing their laughter to redouble.</p>
<p>"<em>Quiet</em>, you two!" Doctor Strange scolded them.</p>
<p>They both flinched. "Sorry, sir."</p>
<p>"It's alright just keep it down I have to step out for a moment if she wakes up press the button on my desk to notify me I have to discuss something with her"</p>
<p>Dr.Strange then quickly left the room leaving the two to focus back on the current match.</p>
<p>The fight itself was... more competitive than Izuku expected. Denki dodged every attack Shuri launched, but he had to work for it. The number of contraptions she had brought with her was truly impressive; every time she seemed to be running low, more would just seem to appear.</p>
<p>Izuku smiled knowingly. If he wanted to, Denki could have just pushed her out of the ring almost immediately. That isn't to say he wasn't fighting hard or giving her a free pass, but he was using a strategy that conserved his energy and his strength by keeping himself safe. Playing defensive just so happened to give Shuri the best opportunity to show off what her inventions could do. Izuku knew it wasn't a coincidence.</p>
<p>Shuri looked like she was trying to win, which he knew would stoke his friend's flame. She didn't have very much combat experience, but Izuku could tell that- beyond just her inventions- she was smart, brilliant even. She quickly adapted to several of Denki's moves, even getting in a few glancing blows; not bad for someone who likely had very little combat training, if any.</p>
<p>She never stood a chance, not really. Once all her inventions were broken, Denki moved in. Instead of blowing her out like he could have done, the man broke her amateur guard and threw her over his shoulder, slamming her down out of bounds.</p>
<p>In the end, nobody could doubt Denki's superiority, but it was interesting to see how well Shuri performed. She hopped up with a wide smile that told Izuku that things had gone even better than she had hoped. Denki trudged away slowly, heading back to the waiting room.</p>
<p>Not wanting to abandon Ochaco, he sent Denki a text message instead. 'You're not getting soft on me, are you?'</p>
<p>It was a couple of minutes later when Denki sent his one-word response. 'Networking.'</p>
<p>Izuku smiled a little wider. "Don't you want to go talk to Denki?" T'challa asked.</p>
<p>Izuku shook his head. "We've been best friends for over 11 years, we don't need to spend every moment together. He values his solitude. He knows I'm proud of him."</p>
<p>Beyond that, he didn't want to leave Ochaco alone He didn't know how to help her right now and it was tearing him up. He could tell she was broken inside, but he didn't have an opportunity, not yet.</p>
<p>T'challa nodded in understanding. "I hope Ochaco wakes up soon, she wouldn't want to miss another match."</p>
<p>"I missed a match?" a voice groaned from between them.</p>
<p>"Ochaco !" They both yelled</p>
<p>Ochaco smiled up at them. "Hey, guys... Did you see my match?"</p>
<p>Izuku nodded. "You were incredible."</p>
<p>"Uh-huh!" T'challa agreed. "I'm super proud of you!"</p>
<p>"Thanks... guys that means....a lot."</p>
<p>Izuku could tell something was wrong but he didn't want to ask her in front of T'challa but luckily his match was next.</p>
<p>"Well I must go now Ochaco my match is next I hope you enjoy it, "T'challa said as he got up and walked out the door.</p>
<p>There was an awkward silence in the one once he left. Ochaco then looked down at her hands Ochaco looked up at him with tears in her eyes that made his heartache.</p>
<p>"I-Iz-"</p>
<p>His arms were around her before she could finish.</p>
<p>Her arms wrapped around him in return, her forehead pressing against his shoulder, her body quaking with sobs. Her hands gripped onto the back of his uniform, balling the fabric up.</p>
<p>His hand found its way behind her head, pushing her further into the hug, the woman almost mewling as she melted against him with another shuddering breath.</p>
<p>His body had brought him to this point, but he didn't know where to go from there.</p>
<p>He could feel her trembling start to fade, and her grip tightening around his torso.</p>
<p>Maybe he was doing the right thing, maybe he wasn't. All he knew was that he couldn't stop himself with what he was going to do next.</p>
<p>"Ochaco, you were worried about not being a 'true hero', right? Because of your quirk?" He pulled back just a little to look back into her face, to see her eyes, her reactions.</p>
<p>To see if he was doing anything wrong.</p>
<p>She was looking back up at him with an awestruck expression.</p>
<p>"Ochaco, you were amazing out there..." he whispered, slightly into her ear, making the girl in his arms flinch, the self-pity dying in her throat. "Taking on an opponent like him, the top of the class, the fourth place in the race, the third on the cavalry tournament- I could tell you were trying to resist but the moment he said 'that' I knew there was nothing you could do..."He took a breath in, trying to keep his stream of thought coherent and avoid turning into a mumbling mess.</p>
<p> He blinked, noticing how wet his eyes had gotten, and how wet hers looked again. "And- and if you can't see that I'll prove how worthy yo- your..."</p>
<p>A sob broke out from his chest, derailing his speech utterly as Ochaco started crying too, but she was smiling, trying to pull him back into the hug.</p>
<p>"Sorry- I made you cry more, I just didn't-"</p>
<p>The soft sensation of a kiss pushing against his lips stopped him in his trail of apologies, pulling him out of his downward spiral and making him feel like he was floating again in that special way of hers, the way she somehow managed every time he needed it the most.</p>
<p>"Thank you..." she whispered, slowly pulling back and wiping her tears. "I- I needed to hear that..." </p>
<p>They suddenly heard the door open looking to see Dr.Strange walking in.</p>
<p>He then asked a series of questions to Ochaco while he ran tests. Ochaco passed with flying colors, apparently experiencing no unexpected discomfort or complications, satisfying the doctor. </p>
<p>"Sorry to put this on you so soon, but we need to have a talk about your quirk and what happened during your match."</p>
<p> He then looked at Izuku then back to Ochaco"Am I'm to understand that he knows already?"</p>
<p>Ochaco nodded with a sheepish smile.</p>
<p>He shook his head. "If you say so. It's reckless if you ask me, but I suppose it's not my quirk."</p>
<p>The man then pulled out a small device and hit a button, causing a hologram of a brain to appear that was dancing with red lights. The hologram rotated slowly as Dr.Strange began to speak. "This is a scan of your brain from the first week of classes. I took this after your first class with Iron Might. As you can see, this was how much  your brain is affected by your quirk after just one regular class."</p>
<p>He pressed the button again. This time, the brain was lit up nearly twice as much with the same red light. "This is the scan of your brain from after the fight with Eugene. Note how much more of your brain is being affected by your quirk. The differences are startling."</p>
<p>He looked straight at Ochaco once again. "Simply put, your quirk adaptation went through essentially a year of development in what I can only assume to be a few minutes. By all accounts, you should be dead. It's a miracle your brain survived the stress it was placed under. Allow me to use a metaphor. Think of your quirk adaptation as a pipe that your quirk flows through like water. If you try and resist it, that pipe shrinks, causing 'high water pressure' At the same time, when too much water is pushed through that pipe, even when it's not constricted, that will also cause high pressure."</p>
<p>He pulled up the hologram of both of Ochaco's brain scans at the same time, showing the difference in the activity. "My theory as to what happened to you is that you had such a strong desire to beat your classmate that you shoved more through than you could handle, and, in an unfortunately convenient twist on this metaphor, the pipe burst."</p>
<p>The room grew deathly still for a few moments as his words sunk in. Ochaco's mind was racing, trying to comprehend what exactly she was telling him.</p>
<p>"But that doesn't mean it can't be fixed"Dr.Strange begin to talk," there are certain things you can take to dampen your quirk."Dr.Strange then looked down at his amulet."And if those don't work there's is one other option but due to the process, it's only a last resort."</p>
<p> Ochaco looked up hesitantly. She glanced over at Izuku, who was staring back at her with a determined look. she then smiled at him, surprising him. "I'll be okay."</p>
<p>Deadpool's voice shattered the moment they were having, shaking both of them out of it.<b><br/></b></p>
<p><b>"FOR PLOT CONVENIENCE WE ARE NOW ON THE SECOND TO LAST MATCH OF THE FIRST ROUND! WILL HITOSHI CHUNG AND "SPIDER-MAN" COME DOWN TO THE FIELD" </b>Deadpool yelled</p>
<p>Ochaco blinked before turning to him in a panic. "Wall Crawler, you gotta go!"</p>
<p>He stared blankly at her for a second before he processed what was happening. "Oh- OH-"</p>
<p>She gently used what strength she had of her quirk to gently pushed him out of the room, almost laughing at the sheer hilarity at the moment, Izuku keeping up the momentum starting to run the rest of the way out.</p>
<p>"Kick his butt!" she hollered after him, the boy raising a fist in response even as he ran out the gate into the light.</p>
<p>Dr.Strange closed the door not wanting her to use more of her quirk. Ochaco sighed the room suddenly feeling lonely without Izuku in there with her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As Izuku was running to one of the entrances of the stadium he met up with Denki who was walking to the medical room</p>
<p>"What took you so long?"</p>
<p>"I knew you two needed a moment plus I may be the first to know about her quirk but that doesn't mean I'm the best to comfort her about it. Plus..."</p>
<p>Denki then pulled a piece of paper out of one of his pockets, "Successful networking talks."</p>
<p>All Izuku could respond with was a laugh.</p>
<p>
  <b>" 'SPIDER-MAN' IS RUNNING LATE IF HE DOESNT COME OUT SOON HE WILL BE DISQUALIFIED!"<br/></b>
</p>
<p>"Well as you can tell I need to get going."</p>
<p>"Yeah, that sounds like the best thing to do see you later Wall-Crawler, and good luck."</p>
<p>Izuku then quickly took off and ran to the entrance thinking to himself<em>' I  just wanted to participate for the fun of it now I have an objective. Get to the finals and win for her'</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As soon as Hitoshi caught Izuku's eye when their names were announced, he grinned.</p><p>"I have a proposition!"</p><p>Both Izuku and BlackWidow turned, clearly a little confused.</p><p>"I'd like for Spider-Man and me to fight this match Quirkless and without support gear."</p><p>BlackWidow looked confused, muffling her mic with her hand she glanced between the two students. "You... want to what?"</p><p>"I want us to fight this match quirkless to see if Spider-Man is really as good as they say he is or is he weak and relies too much on those shooters and his quirk</p><p>BlackWidow then turned to Izuku, "Do you accept the proposition."</p><p>Izuku quickly thought over it<em>' If I keep on using my web fluid I'm eventually going to run out and I still have a long way to plus I need all I can for the next match no matter who the opponent is.'</em></p><p>
  <em>Izuku then nodded at his teacher</em>
</p><p>BlackWidow produced a smug smile. <b>"The two participants have decided to show off their combat prowess without the use of their Quirks and support gear! The rest of the rules apply!"</b></p><p>Deadpool then quickly started the match.</p><p>Izuku and Hitoshi rushed each other to the cheers of the crowd.</p><p>Hitoshi opened up with a strong right hook. Izuku used his own right hand to deflect the punch and aimed a quick jab for his oponent's midsection. He let out a grunt as the hit connected and, refusing to let Izuku gain the upper hand, swung with his left hand and landed a hit on the Izuku's cheek.</p><p>Both fighters reeled back, grinning wildly at each other.</p><p>The duo rushed each other once again and Izuku opted for a leg sweep this time. Hitoshi leaped over and reared his fist back, aiming a punch for Izuku that the boy only just managed to dodge in time. He quickly snapped to his feet and started a series of jabs and kicks at his opponent.</p><p>Hitoshi countered every one and attempted to launch his own counterattack.</p><p>To the live audience the fight was getting repetitive.</p><p>Izuku would lead with a series of attacks, maybe landing a hit or two before Hitoshi would transition from defending to attacking, landing his own hits as he went.</p><p>After particularly devastating trading of blows, Izuku and Hitoshi separated again, each panting heavily and starting to sweat.</p><p> Izuku then rushed his opponent and managed to connect a kick to his midsection. Hitoshi could quickly tell he was growing fatigued though, as he was able to quickly wrap his arms around Izuku's leg and yank him off balance into the ground.</p><p>Seizing the opportunity, Hitoshi latched onto Izuku and began to pin him from behind, doing his best to grab hold of both arms and legs with his own.</p><p> Izuku started to struggle against his grip.</p><p>The boy seemed to relax just a bit, as BlackWidow began walking over to see if the pin had been successful, but just as Hitoshi started to grow content, Izuku tensed inward. Using his core, he wrenched an arm free, one that he planted on the ground, pushing himself up and back to throw his opponent off balance.</p><p>Izuku freed his legs and finally leaped out of Hitoshi's grip before grabbing him by the hands and pushing him back down, pinning him quickly under the weight of his legs.</p><p>Hitoshi made a few efforts to get out but was unsuccessful. He heaved one final sigh.</p><p>"I yield."</p><p>
  <b>"Hitoshi Chung yields! "Spider-Man is the winner!"</b>
</p><p>With the match over Izuku quickly stumbled off of Hitoshi before offering the boy a hand up.</p><p>Without a second thought, and perhaps as a little bit of revenge for beating him, Hitoshi tightly grabbed on to Izuku's hand "I feel you've proven today your an excellent fighter you'd better win now, okay?"</p><p>Izuku returned the tight handshake. "I promise."</p><p> </p><p>Iron Might decided to sit in the commentary booth do to not having to hear Deadpool's voice through a mic and also to get a good look at all the events of the sports festival</p><p>Toshinori smirked and leaned up to look at Daredevil. "How did they do?"</p><p>The man had a broad smile on his face through the bandages. "They definitely seem a little rusty without their Quirks. But honestly? Couldn't be prouder."</p><p>The man chuckled, <em>'Way to go, kid. I'm proud to see you can win without relying on your gadgets.'</em></p><p>Toshinori glanced up at the scoreboard and saw who he could be fighting in the next round.</p><p>
  <em>'Although, I have a feeling you'll need them for whatever comes next.'</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Izuku made it back to the 1-A booth and received a chorus of cheers as he entered. Izuku glanced around and noticed that after his match at the beginning of the one on one fights, Flash wasn't there.</p><p>Izuku thanked some of his more enthusiastic classmates and took a seat between a fully healed Ochako and Denki in the front.</p><p>Deadpool made the announcement that it was time for Laura and Shoto to take the stage. At this point Izuku shot upward, producing his notebook seemingly from nowhere and paying rapt attention to the match about to unfold. As he was watching the two classmates walked to the stage he noticed that there was a chain attached to his pants.</p><p>Laura seemed tense, judging by her posture. Izuku couldn't blame her if she was nervous.</p><p>
  <b>"BEGIN!"</b>
</p><p>At Deadpool's scream, Shoto immediately lifted and began stomping his foot down, likely to form a wall of fire, but  Laura was quick on the draw too.</p><p>She quickly grabbed several small sticks of something out of her pockets, all of which fizzled momentarily as Laura shielded her eyes. Suddenly in a burst of light, the devices went off in a flurry of light.</p><p>"Flashbangs!?" Izuku shouted, as he grabbed his head due to them making his sense go haywire.</p><p>As the crowd seemed to also protest at the unexpected burst of light, Laura went on the move as she rushed her temporarily blinded opponent. The girl's fists burst open, with her claws showing.</p><p>The second Shoto saw what was happening, he went on the offensive. His right hand quickly grabbed his chain and threw it out at Laura. She tried to hit it back at him with her claws the moment she did it she grabbed onto her hands and screamed.</p><p>
  <em>'So he's using the chain just to conduit his fire interesting'</em>
</p><p>Shoto quickly attacks again throwing the chain back at Laura which latched on to her and with all his strength threw her out of the ring. Shoto then quickly ran over to her and put his hand on her's it seems as if he wanted to help out with as much of the pain as he could.</p><p>
  <em>'Though it seems he has control over his fire it seems he can't control the temperature properly when using the chain'</em>
</p><p>Shoto then quickly looked up into the stands more specifically to the 1-A box.</p><p>Ochako felt a prickle of nervousness as she saw Shoto stare directly into the 1-A box. His eyes seemed focused on her... wait... no. Just to her right?</p><p>Izuku.</p><p>He was staring Izuku down.</p><p>
  <em>'Oh boy.'</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As soon as Hitoshi caught Izuku's eye when their names were announced, he grinned.</p><p>"I have a proposition!"</p><p>Both Izuku and BlackWidow turned, clearly a little confused.</p><p>"I'd like for Spider-Man and me to fight this match Quirkless and without support gear."</p><p>BlackWidow looked confused, muffling her mic with her hand she glanced between the two students. "You... want to what?"</p><p>"I want us to fight this match quirkless to see if Spider-Man is really as good as they say he is or is he weak and relies too much on those shooters and his quirk</p><p>BlackWidow then turned to Izuku, "Do you accept the proposition."</p><p>Izuku quickly thought over it<em>' If I keep on using my web fluid I'm eventually going to run out and I still have a long way to plus I need all I can for the next match no matter who the opponent is.'</em></p><p>
  <em>Izuku then nodded at his teacher</em>
</p><p>BlackWidow produced a smug smile. <b>"The two participants have decided to show off their combat prowess without the use of their Quirks and support gear! The rest of the rules apply!"</b></p><p>Deadpool then quickly started the match.</p><p>Izuku and Hitoshi rushed each other to the cheers of the crowd.</p><p>Hitoshi opened up with a strong right hook. Izuku used his own right hand to deflect the punch and aimed a quick jab for his opponent's midsection. He let out a grunt as the hit connected and, refusing to let Izuku gain the upper hand, swung with his left hand and landed a hit on the Izuku's cheek.</p><p>Both fighters reeled back, grinning wildly at each other.</p><p>The duo rushed each other once again and Izuku opted for a leg sweep this time. Hitoshi leaped over and reared his fist back, aiming a punch for Izuku that the boy only just managed to dodge in time. He quickly snapped to his feet and started a series of jabs and kicks at his opponent.</p><p>Hitoshi countered every one and attempted to launch his own counterattack.</p><p>To the live audience, the fight was getting repetitive.</p><p>Izuku would lead with a series of attacks, maybe landing a hit or two before Hitoshi would transition from defending to attacking, landing his own hits as he went.</p><p>After particularly devastating trading of blows, Izuku and Hitoshi separated again, each panting heavily and starting to sweat.</p><p> Izuku then rushed his opponent and managed to connect a kick to his midsection. Hitoshi could quickly tell he was growing fatigued though, as he was able to quickly wrap his arms around Izuku's leg and yank him off balance into the ground.</p><p>Seizing the opportunity, Hitoshi latched onto Izuku and began to pin him from behind, doing his best to grab hold of both arms and legs with his own.</p><p> Izuku started to struggle against his grip.</p><p>The boy seemed to relax just a bit, as BlackWidow began walking over to see if the pin had been successful, but just as Hitoshi started to grow content, Izuku tensed inward. Using his core, he wrenched an arm free, one that he planted on the ground, pushing himself up and back to throw his opponent off balance.</p><p>Izuku freed his legs and finally leaped out of Hitoshi's grip before grabbing him by the hands and pushing him back down, pinning him quickly under the weight of his legs.</p><p>Hitoshi made a few efforts to get out but was unsuccessful. He heaved one final sigh.</p><p>"I yield."</p><p>
  <b>"Hitoshi Chung yields! "Spider-Man is the winner!"</b>
</p><p>With the match over Izuku quickly stumbled off of Hitoshi before offering the boy a hand up.</p><p>Without a second thought, and perhaps as a little bit of revenge for beating him, Hitoshi tightly grabbed on to Izuku's hand "I feel you've proven today your an excellent fight you'd better win now, okay?"</p><p>Izuku returned the tight handshake. "I promise."</p><p> </p><p>Iron Might decided to sit in the commentary booth do to not having to hear Deadpool's voice through a mic and also to get a good look at all the events of the sports festival</p><p>Toshinori smirked and leaned up to look at Daredevil. "How did they do?"</p><p>The man had a broad smile on his face through the bandages. "They definitely seem a little rusty without their Quirks. But honestly? Couldn't be prouder."</p><p>The man chuckled, <em>'Way to go, kid. I'm proud to see you can win without relying on One for All.'</em></p><p>Toshinori glanced up at the scoreboard and saw who he could be fighting in the next round.</p><p>
  <em>'Although, I have a feeling you'll need every ounce of power for whatever comes next.'</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Izuku made it back to the 1-A booth and received a chorus of cheers as he entered. Izuku glanced around and noticed that after his match at the beginning of the one on one fights, Flash wasn't there.</p><p>Izuku thanked some of his more enthusiastic classmates and took a seat between a fully healed Ochako and Denki in the front.</p><p>Deadpool made the announcement that it was time for Laura and Shoto to take the stage. At this point Izuku shot upward, producing his notebook seemingly from nowhere and paying rapt attention to the match about to unfold. As he was watching the two classmates walked to the stage he noticed that there was a chain attached to his pants.</p><p>Laura seemed tense, judging by her posture. Izuku couldn't blame her if she was nervous, Shoto had completely dominated through the tournament.</p><p>He hoped this match would be different.</p><p>
  <b>"BEGIN!"</b>
</p><p>At Deadpool's scream, Shoto immediately lifted and began stomping his foot down, likely to form a wall of fire, but  Laura was quick on the draw too.</p><p>She quickly grabbed several small sticks of something out of her pockets, all of which fizzled momentarily as Laura shielded her eyes. Suddenly in a burst of light, the devices went off in a flurry of light.</p><p>"Flashbangs!?" Izuku shouted, rubbing his eyes.</p><p>As the crowd seemed to also protest at the unexpected burst of light, laura went on the move as she rushed her temporarily blinded opponent. The girl's fists burst open, with her claws showing.</p><p>The second Shoto saw what was happening, he went on the offensive. His right hand quickly grabbed his chain and threw it out at Laura. She tried to hit it back at him with her claws the moment she did it she grabbed onto her hands and screamed.</p><p>
  <em>'So he's using the chain just to conduit his fire interesting'</em>
</p><p>Shoto quickly attacks again throwing the chain back at Laura which latched on to her and with all his strength threw her out of the ring. Shoto then quickly ran over to her and put his hand on her's it seems as if he wanted to help out with as much of the pain as he could.</p><p>
  <em>'Though it seems he has control over his fire it seems he can't control the temperature properly when using the chain'</em>
</p><p>Shoto then quickly looked up into the stands more specifically to the 1-A box.</p><p>Ochako felt a prickle of nervousness as she saw Shoto stare directly into the 1-A box. His eyes seemed focused on her... wait... no. Just to her right?</p><p>Izuku.</p><p>He was staring Izuku down.</p><p>
  <em>'Oh boy.'</em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<b>NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE SECOND ROUND! BUT FIRST IT'S TIME TO SHOW THE UPDATED BRACKETS AND TAKE A TEN MINUTE BREAK TO FIX THE RING!</b>"</p><p>                                                   <b> Eugene "Flash" Bakugo vs Denki Maximoff</b></p><p>                                                        <b>Tenaya T'challa vs Mei Williams</b></p><p> <b>Eijirou Rand vs Tyrone To</b> <b>koyami </b></p><p><b>                                                        "Spider-Man" vs </b> <b>Shouto Reyes</b></p><p>"Now where was that vending machine..." Toshinori walked through the halls of the stadium, looking for refreshment.Just as he rounded the corner he felt his heart stop. There, sitting against the wall on the floor,  was Flash. He took a steadying breath, reminding himself that although he certainly didn't care for Flash, he was still the boy's teacher.</p><p>"Young Bakugo! What are you doing here? Why weren't in the booth with your classmates watching the matches?"</p><p>The boy froze, his eyes snapping open and widening to look at the towering form of Toshinori in his armor looming over him.</p><p>"Iron Might? What the hell do you want?"</p><p>The pro coughed into his hand. "Interesting choice of words. Would you care to try again?"</p><p>Flash stared at the man with a quiet intensity, his jaw clenched.</p><p>"Guess not," Toshinori sighed, "well, kid, I'd like to know why you're isolating yourself in here rather than watching the matches?"</p><p>The boy began cracking his knuckles, pulling on each of the digits and taking his time to crack each of the joints as he started to speak. "I don't give a crap. What the hell should I care about watching those other losers for?"</p><p>Toshinori felt a headache coming on. Talking to this boy was like talking to an angry brick wall. "Well, when you put it that way is your classmate Ochaco a looser."</p><p>Katsuki shot to his feet, small tendrils propelling him upward. "<b>What the hell are you talking about I beat her cleanly?</b>"</p><p>Toshinori resisted the temptation to slap his forehead in frustration. "Well it seemed at the end she was just a second away from sending you out of that ring if you didn't pull that stunt.You want to be a hero, yes?"</p><p>Flash clicked his tongue. "No shi-"</p><p>The pro cleared his throat, cutting the boy off. "If you want to be a hero, you need to learn not only from your successes but also from your failures. You are indeed a talented, young man. But if you want to be a hero, you need to take these opportunities to learn and adapt while you still have the luxury of being a student. In the real world, when a hero doesn't adapt to a situation, people often die."</p><p>This seemed to resonate with the boy, even if for a half-second before the fury returned. "Tch, whatever. Save your lectures for class, Iron Might."</p><p>
  <b> "WOULD EUGENE BAKUGO COME TO THE RING FOR HIS UPCOMING MATCH!"</b>
</p><p>Flash turned his back on the hero and began walking away. "One day I'm going to surpass you,  and anyone else who gets in my way."</p><p>Toshinori sighed again. <em>'Maybe so, kid. But you'll never develop until you learn that you have so much room to grow.' </em>Suddenly Toshinori felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around and gave the person a smirk, "Well if it isn't the one and only Johhny Todoroki."</p><p> </p><p>The following match went by like a blur to Izuku. When it came to the match Denki tried to end it quickly but Flash quickly grabbed onto him and threw him out the ring.</p><p> The next match between Tennya versus Mei on paper seemed to be a one-sided match when on paper but the match played out was a whole different story. Izuku noticed that through the entire match something seemed off with T'Challa but he still fought competitively against Mei though by the end of it Tennya made a mistake and Mei capitalized and won the match. </p><p>Ochaco turned as soon as the boy rushed into the viewing box. "Tenya, you're back, we were getting worri-"</p><p>" Izuku, Ochako, Denki. May I speak to you all outside?"</p><p>The named students all flinched at his curt tone, but nodded and followed Tenya out into the hallway.</p><p>"Hey Tenya, I'm really sorry about your match but don't worry, okay?" Izuku offered a small smile.</p><p>"Thank you Izuku, but this isn't about that if anything It was actually a nice distraction fighting Mei. But I need to leave at once something happened to my father."</p><p>Tenya's friends all tensed with shock, unable to come up with what to say.</p><p>"I tell you this because you are not only the vice representative," he nodded to Izuku, "but because you are my friends. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I will keep you updated."</p><p>Ochako reached out to place her hand on Tenya's arm. "We're here for you, anything you need."</p><p>Tenya gave one more curt nod and began walking away, leaving his friends concerned and anxious for the upcoming matches. As they walked back into the booth they noticed that a portion of the audience of heroes had left.</p><p>
  <em>'Guess whatever happened to T'challa's father is a serious matter'</em>
</p><p>The next match betweenEijirou and Tyrone was mostly one-sided Tyrone tried to teleport behind Eijirou to gain a quick victory but Eijirou was quicker and punched Tyrone out of the ring before he could activate his quirk again. </p><p>Just as they did for Ochaco's match Izuku and Ochaco walked to Izuku's waiting room with Ochaco giving him a good luck kiss before she left.</p><p>Izuku shook out his shoulders, cracking his neck side to side with satisfying pops on either side. The waiting room walls felt even more claustrophobic than they had before when he came here originally for Ochaco's match.</p><p>Time seemed to slow down as a man nearly five inches taller than him opened the door. Izuku's eyes went wide as he stared at the black-clad suit that was dancing with flames. He moved his vision up slowly as he saw the ironically cool gaze of-</p><p>
  <em>'GHOST RIDER?!'</em>
</p><p>"Ah, there you are, boy," the pro said calmly diminishing the flames he was giving off returning to a somewhat normal look. "I've been looking for you."</p><p>"R-really?" Izuku responded.</p><p>The hero nodded. "Yes. I had a talk with Iron Might and he mentions how you have a problem for getting your head into stuff you shouldn't."</p><p>Izuku looks at him curiously wondering what point he was going to make.</p><p>"Which is exactly what I need you to do this match. I take it probably Shoto told you about his quirk?"</p><p>Izuku gave the man a nod.</p><p>"Well, you see the thing  he doesn't know and hell everyone doesn't know is when it comes to his quirk it could kill him."</p><p>Izuku gave the man a shocked expression.</p><p>"Usually the spirit won't do that but since he is a special case the more times he uses his fire the more his body starts to burn as well leading to well you know."</p><p>The room grew quiet as Izuku gained the info.</p><p>"So what I'm asking you, boy is to help him out hell even me one of the most experience can't get him to use it but I can tell there's something with you kid and hopefully you can save him before he causes his own downfall."</p><p>Ghos tRider than turned his flames back on and started to walk out the room before he turned back to Izuku.</p><p>"I know what I'm asking is probably something you find impossible but I can tell if anyone could do it be you."</p><p>He then left the room leaving Izuku by himself.</p><p>Izuku sighed.</p><p><em>'Dammit.</em> <em>I really can't help myself, can't I?'</em></p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The glare coming off of Shoto was enough to make Izuku reconsider his position. The boy forced a smile despite what he was about to do. "Best of luck, may the best one of us win."</p><p>Shoto stared him down, lips were drawn in a tight line.</p><p>
  <em>'Guess we're doing this the hard way.'</em>
</p><p>Deadpool called the match to a start, and Shoto, predictably unleashed a gust of flame, and whatever Izuku had been expecting in terms of Shoto's ability with his fire, he was completely mistaken. </p><p>He felt a shudder run up his spine as if a unknown power seemed to mingle with his quirk.</p><p>He glanced up at Shoto who was gearing up for another assault.</p><p>
  <em>'I wonder.'</em>
</p><p>Izuku flooded his arms with more power than he would normally be comfortable with, and as soon as the burst of flame rushed toward him, Izuku slapped against the air, causing a burst of wind to push the flames to the side.</p><p>Immediately after, the boy felt a stinging in his arm. He was pushing things, but...</p><p>Shoto didn't give him a break and fired off again. Izuku did another swat at the fire before leaping into the air and landing back where he was at the start of the match.</p><p>"Not bad, Araña!" Shoto shouted over the roar of the flames he was generating. "But let's see you dodge this."</p><p> He dropped to a low stance, using his hand in tandem with his foot to generate two walls made of fire, the edges rushing together to form a tent with Izuku trapped in the middle. Izuku allowed the fire to get in close before sticking his hands out and flicking his middle finger on each hand, releasing dual blasts of wind that pushed the tops of the fire away from his body.</p><p>As the fire landed away from him, a cloud of mist surrounded them both and obscured Izuku's approach. When Shoto finally caught sight of Izuku he was already right above him. Reflexively, the fire user raised his right arm, but the heat was beginning to slow his movements. Rather than try to burn Izuku, Shoto threw his chain at the last second.</p><p>Izuku quickly dodges the chain but it did touch on the left side his mask burning a bit of the top of it.</p><p>Bubbling deep inside, Izuku could feel his frustration growing. "Shoto." He took a steadying breath, dusting the embers off of his gym uniform. "When are you going to stop messing around? Everyone here is giving their all!" He looked up at Shoto.</p><p>"Everyone... except you."</p><p>Shoto grunted, flexing his right arm as he tried to work through the heat that he was feeling. "Is this your idea of intimidation, Araña ?" He bared his teeth. " Quit spouting nonsense, you're only making me mad!"</p><p>He rushed Izuku, much slower than the green-haired boy knew his opponent could run.</p><p>
  <em>'The fire is hindering him. He's limiting himself and it's showing.'</em>
</p><p>The next several waves of fire were easier and easier for Izuku to dodge. The third was the largest, coming toward Izuku like a miniature wave, forcing the boy to attack head-on. He uses his web-shooters to launch himself towards Shoto at full speed kicking him into the chest, kicking him to the ground."You can't keep using just your fire forever, everyone can tell the toll it's taking on your body. Wouldn't YOUR spirit counteract the heat?" Izuku said lowering his guard which wasn't missed by his opponent. Shoto quickly grabbed onto Izuku's web shooter. By the time Izuku noticed and pushed Shoto and took the shooter  off most of his left arm was burned.</p><p>'Dammit!'</p><p>"Yield, Araña ."</p><p>"So, what, you win and prove what exactly? That you can win as long as you can outlast me? What's gonna happen when you go up against someone stronger than I am? You're not proving anything by limiting yourself. You have amazing power and you refuse to use it!" Izuku felt his voice grow harsh.</p><p>"I said yield, Araña!"</p><p>Izuku grinned at Shoto. "Not yet."</p><p>With a roar, Izuku powered up One for All as high as he could.</p><p>Shoto stumbled backward, his fire hindering every movement.</p><p>Izuku panted, his body ached from the sudden exertion after being burned. <em>'This is brutal.'</em></p><p>"You know, I didn't even know I had a Quirk until about a year ago. Do you know how many years I spent wishing I could help people with a power to call my own? Everyone who wants to be a hero, everyone who didn't make it into heroics." He glared at Shoto. "You have a gift, you can save so many people, and yet here you are, holding back just cause you can't control this power you were given<em>. </em>"</p><p>Shoto spat. "I told you, I'm not using his damn Quir-"</p><p><b><em>"You're in control!"</em> </b>Izuku roared back. <b><em>"Now stop messing around!"</em></b></p><p>The look on Shoto's face took on a shocked look before his eyes seemed to glaze over as if he was lost in a moment long past. After a moment, Izuku noticed a spark flare up before a column of fire erupted from Shoto's left side.</p><p>Izuku shielded his eyes, completely awestruck by the raw power that his opponent possessed. <em>"Incredible."</em></p><p>"Araña." Izuku's eyes caught Shoto's face as the flames died down, he immediately noticed that half of his face was now showing his skull just like what a ghost rider would look like he just barely noticing the tears streaming down the other boy's face before they evaporated. "I'll do it, I'll be a hero."</p><p>Izuku couldn't help but smile.</p><p>
  <em>'Finally.'</em>
</p><p>"You're smiling?"</p><p>Izuku's eyes caught Shoto's face as the flames died down, he immediately noticed that half of his face was now showing his skull just like what a ghost rider would look like.</p><p>"You must be crazy."</p><p>The wielder of One for All shrugged. "Probably." He brought his fists back up, readying himself for the oncoming onslaught. "Let's do this."</p><p>Izuku charged up One for All as high as he could manage, his body feeling like it would shatter at any given moment. Rather than freezing, he jumped toward Shoto, the stadium floor buckling under the force of his leap and continued rushing toward Shoto after regaining his balance.</p><p>That's when he spotted it, Shoto was lifting his left arm. His flames were already so powerful... but if he ignited?</p><p>Izuku smiled.</p><p><em>When </em>he ignited, things were going to go haywire.</p><p>Izuku threw caution to the wind and flooded his right arm to 100 percent of his power. He was faintly aware of the fact that Forge and BlackWidow were shouting, and he spotted the walls of cement rising out of the ground in front of him, but it was too late.</p><p>An explosion rattled the entire stadium.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The entire audience was blinded by the sheer power of the explosion. Off to the side of the stage, Blackwidow and Forge were accessing the situation. "Did these two have to go all out," Forge grumbled as he tried to take in the damage of the arena."Well, it is the semi-finals what did you expect, "Blackwidow questioned. "Well not this, "Forge said.</p><p>The stage was covered in smoke but what the two could see it was safe to say most of it was destroyed. No other noise was made as the smoke started to fade, but it was clear whatever the result may be the match was over. Deadpool commented about the scary nature of Shota's students asking if he tested them for any substance beforehand. Meanwhile, all of Class 1-A were standing from their seats Ochaco especially as she had her hands clamped onto the railing.</p><p>'Please be alright Wall-Crawler,'Ochaco thought.</p><p>The smoke finally started to fade slowly as the two boys' outlines become visible. One was still in the arena, and the other was slumped against a wall outside the stage. All the remaining viewers held their breath and leaned forward as the smoke cleared.<br/><br/><br/><br/></p><p><b>"WELL, WE'RE WAITING AUTHOR TELL US WHO WON!" </b>Deadpool yelled at the writer</p><p>
  <span class="u"> <em> <b>(Well fine here you go don't even know why I made you this story's mic)</b> </em> </span>
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</p><p>"Aarghhhhh!" A scream of utter victory rang out from the stage as the smoke cleared and revealed the image of a standing Izuku. He was holding his right arm up as a sign of victory but the viewers could tell he was running on fumes. His right pant leg was missing just above the knee, his shirt was completely gone, he had burns all across his body and finally, his entire left arm was broken.</p><p>"<b>FROM OUT OF NOWHERE LIKE AN RKO</b>-"</p><p>"Please cease to exist," Shota interrupted but it seems Deadpool wasn't listening.</p><p>"-<b>'SPIDER-MAN' PULLS OFF THE UNDERDOG VICTORY LIKE ANY GOOD PROTAGONIST AND BEATS THE RIVAL FOR THE ARC AND MOVES ON IN THE TOURNAMENT. WHAT ELSE WILL THIS FORMER VIGILANTE PULL OUT TODAY? YOU JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND FIND OUT!"</b></p><p>Izuku couldn't believe himself that he managed to do what he had set out to do, but he also felt a welling of pride in his gut. Izuku then took a step forward which led to a slight stagger, but he was able to push through the pain and continue to walk. The audience watched in silence as he made his way over to his former opponent.</p><p>In a show of strength and good sportsmanship, Izuku threw Shoto over his still intact arm and started the walk to Dr. Strange's station as both the crowd and Black Widow cheered the action on.<br/><br/></p><p>By the time Izuku stumbled his way into his office most of his adrenaline had faded and he was sweating profusely in exertion. He somewhat roughly tossed Shoto on one bed while he fell into the other as Dr.Strange came over to him."I would say you were being completely reckless again, but when has that stoped your from doing anything." Dr.Strange said as he examined Izuku. He then moved over to Shoto and used his quirk on him as he waited for Izuku to regain more energy before using his quirk on him. Shoto quickly recovers his skin tone that had paled slightly. With his treatment done Strange moves back to Izuku to use his quirk on him. Izuku then watches as his bones fix themselves and his skin return to a normal color. But he did observe the area around where Shoto grabbed onto him wasn't fully heal which Strange quickly commented on."Your lucky that's the only new scars you got fire from a ghost rider when there trying doesn't heal that well. But I have something important to tell you." Izuku put his head up as he looked at Strange. </p><p>"Take this as a warning; I won't heal injuries like this anymore. Nothing serious happened this time besides for the usual and burns but you are getting seriously close to permanently damaging your arm. So what I'm trying to say figure out a new way to use your new quirk kid. Also, come in Iron Might Shoto is still knocked out from the battle." Iron Might quickly come through the door, currently in his deflated state.</p><p>"That was some impressive work kid, you even made Shoto use that spirit he has, care to tell why you did so?" Iron Might asked.<br/><br/></p><p>After a few minutes of telling the story of the match and giving Iron Might his masked to fix, Izuku walked out Dr.Strange's makeshift office and made his way back to where his class was sitting. When he got there he was bombarded with praise and questions on his past fight which he quickly answered them all before taking his seat next to Ochaco who smiled at him. </p><p>He and his class then proceeded to watch the next match between Mei and Flash. Though she gave her best shot it was mostly a one-sided fight with Flash destroying most of her inventions before he threw her out of the ring making him the winner and locking his spot in the finals.</p><p>Once again it was time for Izuku to go fight. <br/><br/></p><p>As he was walking to the repaired arena he came across Flash who was making his way back to where the class was sitting. He seemed to be tired from his last match and only glared at Izuku before continuing his walk back.<br/><br/></p><p>Izuku stepped back  onto the stage determined to move on to the final."I'm surprised you beat Shoto but it was so manly how you won it! Let the best man win this," Eijirou said putting his hand out in front of him. Izuku smiled and shook his hand, "Your right let the best man win this, this is just the beginning for us." Both then went back to their original spot to get the match started. Once Blackwidow called for the match both competitors rushed at each other with Izuku jumping in the air to dodge a kick from Eijirou but he quickly went up in the air himself and gave a devastating ax kick to Izuku's back.</p><p>Izuku coughed out his air as he plummeted to the ground. Once he hit the ground he quickly pushes off avoiding Eijirou's follow up punch that cracked the ground. Izuku then landed a counter cross with his left fist to Eijirou though his opponent powered through it snd landed a sidekick to Izuku which dazed him. In the moment of opportunity, Eijirou grabbed Izuku by his collar and charged towards the edge of the stage. Only a few feet from the edge, however, Eijirou nearly tripped giving Izuku time to break free from his grip. He fell to the floor in front of his opponent and an idea came to his head.</p><p>Izuku tucked in his legs and pressed his hands against the ground in a show of true flexibility and agility Izuku surged off the ground using his hands. Once he was within inches of Eijirou, Izuku sprung his legs out in a practically flying kick that struck his opponent straight in the chest. Izuku hit true and Eijirou was sent flying out over the arena line resulting in his defeat. Izuku rushed over to his opponent as he was announced the winner and helped  Eijirou up as he gathered his breath. Once he could see straight he let out a laugh and slung his arm over Izuku's shoulder.</p><p>"I'm sad that I lost but the way you won it was so manly. I will let this defeat be a stepping stone for  me, next time we fight I promise I'll win."Eijirou declared with pride. "Yeah, I'll take you on anytime Eijirou that was a really good fight. I can't wait to see how much you've improved the next time." Izuku smiled deeply at the deceleration. As the two walked back together though, Izuku could only think about one thing,'Next is Flash and I dont think it will be as fun as this.' <br/><br/></p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So haven't done this in a while so I figured out I mess up a bit with the chapter placement my bad that's one problem with transferring a story from Wattpad so my apologies.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a short break, it was now time for the finals of the first year's Sports Festival. As though they could feel the tension between the two competitors the crowd was silent, apart from Deadpool's commentary. With a shake of BlackWidow's hand, the tension was snapped and the two competitors charged each other. Their exchange was brief and quick before the two parted ways, Flash sporting a small bleeding scratch on his cheek, and Izuku with a slash on his shoulder that cut through his shirt and started to bleed as well.</p>
<p>"You damn nerd, "Flash raged as he charged back in. Their fight was neither quick or quiet as the two boys fought and collided repeatedly. Izuku landed a punch as Flash returned the favor with a sucker punch to the gut. With the wind knocked out of Izuku, Flash capitalized and kicked him away increasing the distance between them.</p>
<p>Gritting his teeth through the pain Izuku kept his eyes open and forward as he refused to lose. Doing the same thing as before only this time using his right fist to punch Flash, Izuku avoided the follow-up counter of his opponent by twisting his torso. With the briefest of openings created Izuku surged forehead and crashed into Flash. The unorthodox move landed with a resounding crunch of Flash's nose being broken.</p>
<p>"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU DAMED WALL CRAWLER!" Flash's previous rage was nothing in comparison to what he released at that moment. Izuku retreated as quickly as he could, but still got cut by Flash as he formed his hand form into a claw causing him to fall. "You... You won't win Wall-Crawler!" Izuku then suddenly got onto his feet.</p>
<p>"I'm <b>done</b> being your punching bag."</p>
<p>With a roar on both ends of the stadium, the two boys clashed again. Flash leaped high into the air and flew toward Izuku.</p>
<p>Izuku stood his ground and realized just by watching Flash's attack, he had no hope of dodging, so he needed to make a stand.</p>
<p>Flash screamed with anger. <b><em>"Thermite Breach!"</em></b></p>
<p>Izuku responded in time, throwing caution to the wind and charging up to his full power. <b><em>"Iron-Clad Gauntlet Smackdown!"</em></b></p>
<p>An enormous burst of wind shot from Izuku's arm, sending Flash into the air above the stadium.</p>
<p>Izuku was faintly aware of Forge saying something about needing to grab Flash before he fell but Izuku was already in the air. Izuku slingshot up above the stadium, matching Flash's speed as he grabbed the unconscious boy in his arms, wincing slightly as he felt some damage in his right arm. As the two boys began to start falling down to the stadium, Izuku noticed Forge lifting a pillar for Izuku to land on just before the two boys picked up any more speed. Izuku braced his legs with One for All and minimized the impact as best he could.</p>
<p>Forge lowered the boys down, and Izuku laid Flash at his feet. Once at ground level, BlackWidow hurried over to check on Flash, before turning to the crowd.</p>
<p>
  <b>"Eugene Bakugo is unconscious and unable to continue. Spider-Man wins!"</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Toshinori stood on the edge of the stadium, testing his pulse and trying to decide how long he could hold his hero form if he got caught up by the press and things ran long.</p>
<p>He heard the crowd start to roar in applause as Black Widow took the stage again. Fireworks were already lighting up the afternoon sky.</p>
<p>
  <b>"-cial guest to hand out the awards!"</b>
</p>
<p><em>'That's my cue.' </em>Toshinori began laughing as loudly as he could, the booming chuckles sending the stadium into a new chorus of cheers.</p>
<p>He tensed his quads, squatting down before leaping into the air, performing a series of flips as he shouted his trademark "I AM HERE!"</p>
<p>...Only to be cut off by Black Widow announcing his name.</p>
<p><b>"And now, for the medals!"</b> BlackWidow strode over medals in hand. <em>"Sorry Iron Might got a little carried away." </em>The woman's whispered apology elicited a chuckled from Toshinori.</p>
<p><em>"No worries, thank you." </em>He took the medals and approached the podium that had risen from the ground just moments before. He started at third place.</p>
<p>
  <b>"In third place! Tyrone Tokoyami and Eijirou Rand!"</b>
</p>
<p>Toshinori first approached Tyrone. "I'm incredibly proud of you for your intuition under stress and quick thinking throughout the entire tournament." He placed the medal around his neck before leaning in for a chaste hug. </p>
<p>He leaned back, stifling a chuckle at the boy's blush. Toshinori then turned to Eijirou with a smile, placing the medal around the taller boy's neck. "Eijirou, you displayed a level of forward-thinking and tactical planning that would make many professional heroes jealous." He hugged the boy as well. </p>
<p>Eijirou beamed under the praise.</p>
<p>Toshinori nodded at the boy before walking over to the second-place platform. Eugene stood stiffly, seeming to be very preoccupied with staring into space.</p>
<p>"Eugene." Iron Might grinned down at the boy. "Today you displayed an impressive amount of power. Your Quirk truly is something impressive to behold... But, if you ever need to talk, please let me know."</p>
<p>The boy nodded, glancing up at Izuku momentarily. "Thank you, Iron Might. I'll... keep that in mind."</p>
<p>The towering hero pulled away, giving Eugene one last look before stepping toward Izuku.</p>
<p>"And of course! The webhead himself! You certainly have come a long way to reach this point. You truly are an exemplary student and stellar example of how far one can go with hard work and determination!"</p>
<p>The man patted Izuku on the back once more before stepping back and gesturing to the sky.</p>
<p>
  <b>"THAT CONCLUDES OUR SPORTS FESTIVAL! BUT BEFORE WE GO, LET'S SAY IT ALL ONCE TOGETHER NOW! YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS!"</b>
</p>
<p>The crowd looked ready to burst, and as Toshinori raised his fist to the sky, they responded.</p>
<p>
  <b>"EXCELSIOR!"</b>
</p>
<p>Only to be spoken over by Toshinori as he yelled <b>"GREAT JOB TO ALL OUR PARTICIPANTS!"</b></p>
<p>The mixed shouted of confusion and disappointment were enough to reduce the man to a fit of laughter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Back in his small apartment later that evening, surrounded by the small family he had acquired over the years, Izuku felt truly elated.</p><p>Inko had insisted he wears the medallion all evening. He couldn't refuse her when she began to tear up, gushing about how proud she was. Ochaco and Denki had showered Izuku with a litany of praise and teasing, both commending him for his impressive performance, but also teased him for losing his shirt for 50% of the tournament.</p><p>Lastly, Toshinori in his deflated form had pulled Izuku aside once again to tell him how proud he was of him.</p><p>After all of it, Izuku was thoroughly overwhelmed and needed some time by himself so he went to the roof of his apartment.</p><p>"Fancy meeting you here wall-crawler." Izuku turned around to see Ochaco floating up to the roof. Izuku smiled and went to hug her. "You couldn't sleep, "Izuku questioned."No, since I couldn't do this earlier," Ochaco then kissed Izuku on the lips, "I decided to do it now."</p><p>The pair then sat in a comfortable silence until they finally decided to go to bed.</p><p> </p><p>The day after the Sports Festival, Class 1-A was called to homeroom. They entered and took their seats, waiting for Murdock to arrive.</p><p>"I wonder what this is about. We were told we had two days to recuperate from the Sports Festival." Mina commented.</p><p>"Yeah. It must be important if Murdock called us here." Ochaco stated.</p><p>The door slid open and Murdock, in all his bandaged glory, entered the room.</p><p>"Good morning, class." Murdock's muffled voice sounded as bored as ever.</p><p>He stopped at the front of the class.</p><p>"I suppose you're wondering what you're here for. Well, the answer is simple: We're here to discuss your internships. I know the first two days after the Sports Festival is for resting, but this is an important matter. Once you come back to class, you're going to have to know where you want to intern at. I'm giving you a head start with making that decision, seeing as it's irrational to expect you to know where you want to go right after break when you first see the offers."</p><p>Murmurs started to echo through the students as they talked amongst one another. Murdock groaned in annoyance, something that shut all the students up when they heard it. Murdock took a piece of chalk and began writing on the board, looking to a paper in his hand every once in a while.</p><p>Murdock stepped back and revealed the writing on the board.</p><p>"These are the number of offers sent out to each student." He explained.</p><p>The top five on the list were as expected the five that were handed awards at the end of the festival. Each had hundreds of offers, leaving those below them with double-digit offers instead of triple.</p><p>"I'll be handing out a list of internship offers. You will have a final decision of where you want to go once the break ends. You should also know for some of you there are some unique internship opportunities if you want to take them up these are a bit more unique than regular ones and sometimes a whole lot more dangerous but that's up to you," Aizawa said.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Once the papers were handed out, Murdock brought BlackWidow in.</p><p>"Before you all leave today, you will make something as important to hero life as fighting!"</p><p>The whole class stiffened.</p><p>"Hero names!" BlackWidow said with a smile.</p><p>Everyone relaxed for a moment before starting to sound excited.</p><p>Izuku watched as everyone (excluding him, Iida, and Shoto ) were given whiteboards to write down their ideas for hero names.</p><p>A couple of minutes later, people started going up to the front to show their hero names.</p><p>Ochaco was one of the last to go up.</p><p>"I've been thinking of this name for a while."</p><p>Ochaco's whiteboard read: "Mystic Hero: Scarlet Sorceress"</p><p>"Wonderful name! I love it!" Black Widow declared.</p><p>Ochaco grew shy at Black Widow's words as she returned to his seat. Ochaco looked at Izuku and he gave her a thumbs up.</p><p>"Good job." He whispered before homeroom continued.</p><p> </p><p>At the end of that impromptu class, Iida was first to leave.  the moment he entered the class, he seemed off to Izuku he soon figure out why when he saw he now was wearing a black and silver ring on his hand</p><p>The news report was still fresh in his head.</p><p> <b><em>" Punisher. Real name, Frank Castle. Quirk, unknown. Very little is known about him. From what we can glean of his crimes, he seems to target pro heroes and villains seemingly at random. Currently, he attacks in metropolitan areas, targeting pro heroes and villains by isolating them in alleyways. Of his more than 20 victims, only a handful are still alive to tell the tale. We know based on accounts from these pros and villains that he wears a mostly black outfit with a white skull in the middle. His Quirk, which is currently unknown, supposedly involves some sort of paralysis that leaves his victims prone to his attacks.</em></b></p><p>
  <b>
    <em> If you happen to spot him, we advise you to run as fast as you can and inform the authorities. Do not, we repeat, do not take matters into your own hands. He does not appear to distinguish between his targets and those who get in his way.</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Most recently the  Hero, Blackpanther, was targeted. Blackpanther is luckily in stable condition, but more words from his agency had not been given. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the king and his family, we're praying for a speedy recovery."</em>
  </b>
</p><p>Tenya was a concern, he didn't know how to help his friend. Not to mention the Punisher was still at large and his friends were all interning with pro heroes, he was concerned that anyone of them could get caught in the crossfire.</p><p>But he couldn't focus on that at the moment. He still had to figure who to intern with.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Izuku was sitting in his room going through his internship papers. He still hadn't decided on where he wanted to go for his internship.  That was until he heard a knock on the door then it opens.</p><p>"Mr.Stark It's good to see you!" Izuku said with a bright smile.</p><p>Toshinori entered Izuku's room.</p><p>"So, kid, you wanted to talk?"</p><p> "I was wondering if you could help me choose? There are way too many offers here!"</p><p>Toshinori reached his hand out, taking the packet that Izuku offered him. He grabbed a pencil too and began putting an X next to most of the names. "First off, get rid of anyone in the top 10, no offense to any of them, but you already have a top 10 pro in your corner showing you the ropes." He winked. "Next, let's get rid of all the brawlers. You have a solid grasp on my fighting style, in addition to all that you've accomplished with your gadgets." Several more scratches on the paper. "Honestly, some of these agencies I've just flat out never heard of. I'm sure you probably know them all by heart, but a lot of these offers are definitely from small-time agencies just looking to cash in on your success in the festival."</p><p>Izuku watched in awe as the older man continued crossing off name after name, the list of potential heroes shrinking and taking a weight off of the boy's mind.</p><p>"Alright, that should do it," Toshinori then handed him back the packet.</p><p>"But if you want I do have a unique offer for you."</p><p>Toshinori then grabbed a paper out of his jacket.</p><p>"The offer came in today from an old friend of mine he's semi-retired but he still can keep up with you plus he knows about One for All."</p><p>Izuku then took the paper out of his hand.</p><p>The moment he read the top of the paper his eyes went wide.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The following Monday, Izuku bid farewell to his friends and classmates before boarding his train. He was still worried about Tenya,  but Tenya hadn't offered up anything in regards to his emotional well-being.</p>
<p>Ochako would be staying in New York for her internship with Dr.Strange, a fact that made Izuku proud that she was working to expand her repertoire. Eijirou and Rikido were off to an internship with surprisingly Daredevil. Denki went off to work with a former teacher of M.A., Professor X. He felt more than a little guilty that he couldn't offer his normally encyclopedic knowledge of heroes to him.</p>
<p>Izuku put his headphones on, listening to his favorite heroics podcast. Today they were covering the recent string of killings related to The Punisher</p>
<p>Izuku began to tune out the podcast as the cities rolled by on his train ride.</p>
<p>The train pulled into the city and Izuku collected his hero case and disembarked, following the map to a small building in one of the less busy districts of the city.</p>
<p>He walked in through the front doors and immediately ducked as a shield came soaring past his head.</p>
<p>"You're late ."</p>
<p>Izuku scrambled to his feet, dropping his case and adopting a fighting stance.</p>
<p>His eyes settled on his attacker and he immediately dropped his fists, bowing low. "I'm so sorry! The train got delayed!"</p>
<p>His would-be attacker, a tall man, cracking his knuckles intimidatingly. "Listen up, I normally don't do this after my public retirement, but you somehow managed to impress me at the festival. You're a fighter, I know that already, but if you're gonna make it here, you need to learn to never let your guard down!"</p>
<p>The man bounded forward, letting lose a flying kick at Izuku. This time the boy had time to dodge under the outstretched leg, but he couldn't have predicted the shield to come back and hit him in the head knocking him to the ground.</p>
<p>"Sheesh, you've got a lot to learn, Rookie." </p>
<p>Izuku left out a huff, quickly massaging his neck before looking up to see a hand offered to him. "Looks like I'm gonna have to whip you into shape, Izuku Parker."</p>
<p>The boy took the hand, rising to his feet.</p>
<p>"Oh yeah I haven't formally introduced myself"</p>
<p>"The name's  Sorahiko Rogers," the retired hero began with a feral grin, "you're in for a <em>fun </em>week."</p>
<p>He then led him over to various rooms and opened the door to one for him. A quick explanation to Izuku that this would be his room during the stay had him placing his costume case on the bed. After that was done Izuku unsling the duffle bag hanging at his waist from around his shoulder and place it next to the case. Satisfied that he was settled in, for now, Sorahiko turned around to leave, but before leaving he told Izuku to get dressed in workout gear and meet him in the training room.</p>
<p>As he opens the door to the training room Sorahiko is already in the room."Before anything else, we need to do an evaluation of what you can and can't do. I need to know everything you can and can't do before we can do any sort of work or patrol together. I'll do a task then you emulate it, we'll start with simple stretches and warmups." Izuku did as he asked and followed every move he did.</p>
<p>Sorahiko told him he was pleased that he was keeping up, but he also questioned his diet and exercises that he usually did. The more Izuku told him, Sorahiko gained a silent and contemplated look on his face. When he felt he had enough information he began to talk.</p>
<p>"I have a basic idea now of your limits we will test them later with and without One for All. Now show me everything you got, attack me seriously." Sorahiko gave Izuku a come hit him gesture as Izuku backed up a few steps.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For the next two hours, Izuku was hammered into the ground, repeatedly. He took solace in the fact that the floor was padded, more pain was emanated from the hits from steve than him crashing to the floor. An end was called Izuku laid on his back as he was out of air. Sorahiko did a few cool-down stretches and drank from one of the water bottles he brought. He offered one to Izuku once he was able to sit up.</p>
<p>"You seem to have a good base, but from what you've told me and from I've noticed you've seem to regress a bit in what you can do considering the power you hold." Izuku looked at him confused, so Sorahiko started to explain, "I've seen your footage before you gained One for All and you seemed so agile with everything you did but since gaining it seems you copy Iron Might relying more on your strength than you agility."</p>
<p>Izuku looked down once he realized he stunted his growth by trying to be more like Iron Might then himself. A hand on his shoulder made him raise his gaze to Sorahiko. "There's nothing wrong with that though. Its how you take the moves and turn them into your own. Don't be discouraged, instead, think of it as step one into being the ultimate you. Sorahiko graced him with a genuine smile.</p>
<p>"What's next Mr.Rogers." Sorahiko smiled at the energy showed and tapped his shoulder. "The first thing we address is my name. I'm used to dealing with boring stiff people all the time, drop the Mr. makes me feel old. Just call me Sorahiko or whatever else I don't really care. Now go and get clean up its time to go on patrol."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The feeling of his costume was a welcome one to Izuku. The fabric was breathable, offering some slight compression on his major muscle groups, and the leg braces kept the shock of his jumping to a minimum.</p>
<p>Wearing the suit made him feel taller, and not just because the soles of his boots had some extra spring and padding in them. There was something about putting on the suit that made him feel <em>powerful</em>. When he caught sight of himself in the mirror, illuminated by the afternoon sun, he noticed that he was standing taller than usual.</p>
<p>"Hey kid, you're handsome. I'm sure your aunt tells you every day, now stop checking yourself out. We've got work to do."</p>
<p>Izuku felt his face light up in a furious blush. "S-sorry!" The young man quickly jogged to catch up. "So, uh, how does this work?"</p>
<p>"Well," Sorahiko gestured to the city around them, "we're gonna patrol. People  are scared, seeing a few extra heroes around will do a lot for morale."</p>
<p>The young man felt a sense of pride bubble in his chest. "That makes sense."</p>
<p> "But first." The man then pointed up to a low building. "I want you to get on top of that as fast as possible without your gadgets."</p>
<p class="">"What?" Izuku looked back at Sorahiko with a bewildered expression. "But, shouldn't I not use my Quirk for personal use like that?"</p>
<p class="">Izuku received a slap on the back. "Would you stop overthinking? I'm supervising you right now, and as your supervisor, I give you permission to use your Quirk. Okay?"</p>
<p class="">"Er, alright." Izuku then took a few light bounds before propelling himself up the walls to the top of the roof. He glanced down to Sorahiko, cupping his hands around his mouth to project his voice. "How was that?"</p>
<p class=""> Sorahiko did some stretches a few times before crouching low and leaping up to Izuku in a single bound, landing in a low squat before rising back up and giving Izuku a wicked grin. "It was alright I guess, but why are you holding back? I've seen you jump before."</p>
<p class="">"What do you recommend, then?"</p>
<p class="">The man turned to the building next to them, it was fairly higher still. "Try getting up there, one jump."</p>
<p>Izuku nodded,  attempting a few test squats before charging up to make a higher jump than he normally would.</p>
<p>The sensation as his feet left the ground felt like flying.</p>
<p>A small giggle escaped his lips, even as the roof of the building drew closer and he was forced to replicate Sorahiko's landing from before. He quickly shook his legs out, a smile still plastered on his face. Just a few seconds later, the powerful form of Sorahiko landed on his left.</p>
<p>"How was that, kid?" Sorahiko patted Izuku on the back, considerably gentler than Izuku was expecting.</p>
<p>Izuku paused, feeling a small trickle of adrenaline flowing through his system.</p>
<p>"Can we do that again?"</p>
<p>"Maybe tomorrow but now is the time to learn about what a hero does."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Izuku was surprised, but not disappointed with the work he completed on the patrol. Sorahiko took the lead while Izuku followed behind throughout their various tasks. Most of the simpler ones such as cleaning up litter, or helping older people carry groceries were designated to Izuku. Tasks he was unfamiliar with, Sorahiko explained to him and the procedures to follow with them. The day to day activities was normally quiet, but Sorahiko also explained and then drilled Izuku on other policies he would need to be aware of.</p>
<p>"You should know this better than anyone. As heroes, we don't have any power of law to arrest anyone, but you must also have the mindset that until the police arrive you act on their behalf. Heroes are in their own way are the 'everything' people you must act in any and all capacities until there's arrive." Izuku nodded and took more mental notes as he trailed behind him.</p>
<p>As they were patrolling Izuku was observing the area and trying to see anything out of the ordinary. Sorahiko had explained to him that the basics began with having a firm grip on anything and everything going on around a hero's general vicinity. he knew that it would take practice, but Izuku felt he was slowly getting the hang of it. As he searched around for anything that might not look normal his spider-sense went off as he glanced a younger woman tripped against an older man. Izuku would have ruled it off as the sense messing up again but then from the corner off his eye he saw the young woman pick the old man's pocket as she apologized to him.  Izuku quickly then shot after the woman. He knew he should have asked Sorahiko for permission to do this but he trusted his instincts. He caught up to her quickly and gently reached out with a hand he placed on her shoulder.</p>
<p>"Hey, miss please return what you've taken."</p>
<p>When the young woman turned to him she suddenly looked as though she had seen a ghost. Standing behind Izuku was Sorahiko, within sight of the criminal, his arms were crossed, and a fierce glare was on his face. The young woman stuttered out apologies and quickly handed the wallet over. She then silently sat on the curb of the sidewalk with her head down under the gaze of Sorahiko. While he watched over the petty thief Izuku dashed off to the old man so he could return the stolen property. He returned after a few moments and glanced to Sorahiko</p>
<p>"So what do we do now Mr... I mean Captain?"</p>
<p>"I've already called and alerted the police, now we watch over and make sure the subject is detained. After that they will be arrested, and we will talk with the police briefly and fill out an incident report. A copy of the report will be given to us, which we can then use to submit to the hero association.</p>
<p>"Normally they will process and analyze our efforts or contribution to society in the submitted cases and pay us accordingly. Honestly, it's only the first day, I didn't expect you to be getting into this kind of trouble. But I should have expected it after you made six villains hate you. This is a good experience for you though, good catch as well on noticing  the theft I guess it was that spider-sense?" Izuku rubbed at the back of his neck embarrassed by the praise.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The start of Izuku's first full day of his internship was not how he expected. He was woken up very early in the morning by Sorahiko to go on an early morning run when they got back to the building Sorahiko told Izuku to clean up and meet him in the training room.</p><p> </p><p>"Let's recap your base ability is fine," Sorahiko muttered. "But you're not flexible enough with those Quirks you've got. If you focus on one too much, the other is useless or too slow. I could see from watching the Sports Festival that you've got a good grasp on analyzing Quirks, but for someone with such a good eye, you're blind when it comes to addressing your abilities. So let try something; I want you to have a go at spreading One for All into your full body."</p><p> </p><p>'<em>Spread it throughout my body</em>' Izuku clenched his fist focusing hard and trying to channeling the power he knew was there ...</p><p>He gasped as he felt something shift- the energy he could normally feel in his body when he used One for All had extended,  lightning arced from his arm in rough distortions, generating a low thrum. As he started to get a grasp for it, he let it spread from there over the rest of his body.</p><p>It was a tricky balance and he could only cover his whole body with it if it extended no further than about an inch off his skin, but he could do it. Looking down at himself, it appeared as though he were coated in a thin layer almost like a second suit. It seemed to swirl in blind patterns, little particles dancing over it like the spots on a plasma lamp. Lightning arced off the energy layer from his arms below the elbows, his legs below the knees. </p><p>Sorahiko grinned. "Think you can keep that up?"</p><p>"I...I don't know!" Izuku managed, struggling to maintain control of the fusion.</p><p>"Let's give it a shot," Sorahiko grabbed a timer and set it. "We'll start with three minutes. Try and hit me with that Quirk of yours in that amount of time!"</p><p> His shield almost slammed into Izuku's back but he was able to flip over it like it was nothing, throwing the boy off-balance, but he managed to maintain control of the fusion.</p><p>"There we go!" Sorahiko snapped. " If you want to be called 'The Symbol of Peace'  you must crush any barrier in your way!"</p><p>When Sorahiko lunged at him again from behind, Izuku spun around and leaned back, then pushed off the ground to get above the old man. He twisted in midair and swung one of his fists at him, but Torino dodged by flipping away and landing on the wall.</p><p>"Close!" Sorahiko shouted. "Try again!"</p><p>Izuku landed and leaped away from Sorahiko, then placed his feet against the wall and pushed off to rush him. With a yell, he threw his right fist forward, but again Sorahiko dodged and Izuku found himself punching the wall.</p><p>Quite simply, his fist tore through the bricks with the energy rippling around it, but his arm got stuck from the elbow down.</p><p>Sorahiko cackled. "Uh-oh! Bad news for you, kid!"</p><p>His shield bounced off the ceiling, then the wall to fly at Izuku again. But the teenager had a surprise in store for him. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to tear his arm free of the wall in time, Izuku frantically spun his body in a wide roundhouse kick kicking the shield back at Sorahiko.</p><p>Sorahiko barely managed to dodge the energized shield, but his face was tagged by a shock of energy, which still grazed his cheek and seared his skin with its intensity. He grabbed Izuku's head and pinned him against the wall, careful to avoid twisting the boy's trapped arm too much.</p><p>The timer went off. Sorahiko grunted in satisfaction. "That's three minutes."</p><p>He let Izuku go, giving the teenager a chance to remove his arm from the wall with a wince. "Oww..."</p><p>"No one ever said it was going to be easy," Sorahiko snickered at him. "Your form is still rough, but you've got the basic feel of it down now, right?</p><p>Izuku nodded.</p><p>"Now let's work on refining it so its as if you don't have to think about it."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In a little bar hidden away in the city, the Hero Killer Punisher leered down at Tomura's immobile body, holding his gun threateningly. A combat knife was buried in Tomura's right shoulder, while a gun was held close to his throat.</p><p> </p><p>"To accomplish something, a creed is necessary...and conviction. That those weaklings, who lack both of those things, are culled is only natural. That's why it turned out this way."</p><p>Tomura winced in pain at the knife digging into his shoulder. "Hahaha...Ow...you're too damn strong. Mysterio, send this guy away!"</p><p>Mysterio leaned weakly against the bar, unable to move just as Tomura was. "I can't do anything...it must be the Hero Killer's Quirk..."</p><p>Punisher sneered at the villain beneath him in disdain. "The concept of a 'hero' has lost all meaning in this society. Fakers pretending to be heroes, throwing their abilities every which way for nothing but money and power and protecting their interest. They're the scum of this world...the scum which must be purged!"</p><p>The gun nearing Tomura's finally hit his throat causing Tomura to freeze. Suddenly able to move again, his hand rushed up and grabbed the gun as his armor started to form around his body.</p><p>Punisher paused, watching as Tomura's eyes almost glowed with malice. "I'll kill you."</p><p>His gun suddenly began to crumble away into nothing, while Tomura chuckled and grinned viciously. "You're way more chatty than I thought you'd be...conviction? A creed? I don't have anything so righteous. But if I had to decide on something...it'd have to be Iron Might. I wanna crush the society where that trash is put up so high and mighty into the dirt! That's what I wanna do!"</p><p>The gun disappeared completely and Tomura swung at Punisher, who deftly avoided him by leaping back and pulling the knife from the villain's shoulder at the same time. Tomura stood up, staring down the Hero Kill as he clutched at the bleeding wound. "That hurt, you know...We don't have a healer in our party. You gonna take responsibility for it?"</p><p>Punisher considered Tomura for a few more moments before relaxing slightly. "That's what you're about, eh?"</p><p>"Huh?"</p><p>"It seems our goals lie at opposites of each other," said the Hero Killer. "But we have one thing in common: we want the society of today to be destroyed."</p><p> "Didn't you say I'm the type you hate the most?"</p><p>Sheathing his blade, Punisher acknowledges the accusation with a grunt. "I was testing you. When someone is at death's door, they show their true colors. You're unusual, but there's conviction inside of you. A twisted creed ready to bud and bloom. I wonder how it will grow? Well, in any case, perhaps I'll save disposing of you until after I've ascertained you with my own eyes."</p><p>"Dispose of us...what a psycho. Mysterio, I don't want such a crazy guy in our party."</p><p>"Tomura, if we add him to our ranks, our battle power will increase tremendously," Mysterio told him as he regained the ability to move again. He turned to Punisher and nodded. "Our negotiations are complete."</p><p>"Good. Now that that's settled, send me back. I still have some business to attend to."</p><p> </p><p>In New York, Tenya and the hero he was interning with arrived back at the office. Tenya removed his helmet with a sigh. There hadn't been any encounters with villains today, least of all the Hero Killer he'd come looking for.</p><p> "Whew! Well, there wasn't much activity, but the city is on high alert, so I suppose that was to be expected."</p><p>"I see," Tenya replied absently.</p><p>He'd done his research on the Hero Killer. Wherever he appeared, he always injured or killed at least four heroes or villains before moving on to a different location. He'd done that at least seven times before moving to New York. So far, Tenya's Father had been the only one who was injured in this city. The likelihood was high that the Hero Killer was far from done with New York.</p><p>It was still impossible for Tenya to process that his father was retiring from hero work- that he was <em>paralyzed</em> from the waist down because of a single psychopath's rampage. His beloved father, his role model...forced to give up his life's dream due to pointless violence from one man.</p><p>He refused to take that lying down. He couldn't. Tenya was going to find that man and put him down personally. The Hero Killer would be back in New York, he knew it. Once Tenya found him, he'd put the bastard in the ground as he deserved.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Izuku let out a yelp as he was smacked into the wall again, lying back with his feet up in the air after their latest training session. It was day three of his internship and he'd spent a large portion of the day sparring with the old hero, which more or less meant he was beaten black and blue as he tried- and failed- to hit his agile and wily mentor.</p><p>Sorahiko landed on the ground and snickered at him. "Well, you're getting better, but we should stop now. If you keep fighting just me, you'll start to pick up weird habits."</p><p>"But...I still need more practice," Izuku protested as he righted himself and rubbed his back. The thrumming energy around his body vanished as he sat up. </p><p>Sorahiko merely shook his head. "No. We've down enough here. There's too much for you to learn in the short time we have; my goal was to help you get a basic grasp for utilizing One for All. Now we're moving to the second phase of training- workplace experience. In other words, we're gonna go do some villain-hunting!"</p><p>After they cleaned up and Izuku got changed into his hero costume, the two of them took a taxi to the train station. Sorahiko got them tickets and before long, they were on their way. Izuku knew they'd pass by New York.</p><p>His thoughts trailed to Tenya, who hadn't replied to any of his text messages despite having read them. Izuku bit his lip worriedly; it was unheard of for his straight-laced friend to delay a response. He usually answered within about thirty seconds unless he was asleep.</p><p>Maybe he was just busy on patrol for his internship...</p><p>Glancing around, Izuku gulped in his seat. There were a lot of people on the train with them. He wasn't sure how long it'd be before someone recognized him...</p><p>In an attempt to distract himself from the possibility and his concern for Tenya, he looked at Torino and stammered. "Um...can I ask you something?"</p><p>"You just did, but sure."</p><p>"Uh...well, what was Iron Might like when he was your teammate?"</p><p>Sorahiko looked up at the ceiling and thought about it for a moment. "Hmm...he wasn't much like you at all. He was always competing with me; endlessly. It got annoying after a while, I'll tell ya. Just one thing after another, never-ending. Ugh...Once, he got One for all he got a little quieter after that."</p><p>"Can you tell me why was that?"</p><p>"That's a better question to ask him than me."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Manuel looked back at Tenya with an apologetic expression on his face. "Sorry, it's just more patrolling today! There's not much else to do around here at the moment."</p><p>Tenya shook his head and replied quietly as he glanced down a nearby alley. "No...it's better this way."</p><p>The Pro hero considered Tenya for another moment in silence before stopping to face him. "Hey, this might be uncomfortable to ask, but...you came here to find the Hero Killer, didn't you?"</p><p>Tenya stiffened and Manuel took that as confirmation. "I couldn't think of any other reason you'd come to my office. Don't misunderstand; I'm very happy you came! Its just...you shouldn't let personal grudges affect your actions, especially as a hero. We don't have the authority to dish out punishment on villains or arrest them; that's the duty of law enforcement."</p><p>"If you start taking their authority and using it as your own, you're turning heroism into vigilantism. That's no small crime. Of course, the Hero Killer has enacted many crimes, so it's not like he's innocent. You're a good, straight-laced kid, okay? I understand you being angry because of what happened to your father, but you have to draw a line between work and personal feelings."</p><p>Tenya dipped his head in acknowledgment. "I understand. I appreciate your warning."</p><p>Even so, he clenched his fists, frustrated and unsure what to do with the storm emotions boiling inside of him.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>On a water tower in New York, a black portal opened up in a spiral, from which Punisher walked through. Following him was Tomura, and then Mysterio.</p><p>Tomura's eyes scanned the city with a bored expression. "New York, huh? Why a place filled with so many hero's?"</p><p>"I'm going to reform this town," Punisher said darkly. "For that, I require more sacrifices."</p><p>"That's the business you spoke of the other day, is it not?" Mysterio queried.</p><p>"I see you're someone who understands."</p><p>Tomura glanced at Punisher in annoyance. "What are you saying about me, then?"</p><p>Punisher growled and held his arms out to his sides. " There are too many fakes who are in it only for the money and chaos! And until society realizes the error of its ways, I shall continue to appear!"</p><p>Punisher then leaped down from the water tower landing on top of a van in the alleyway quickly going in to resupply.</p><p>Tomura scoffed. "He talks all high and mighty, but he's trying to start a grassroots movement. I could almost cry, it's so.....noble."</p><p>"You can't mock him for that," Mysterio said, causing Tomura to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "The places he's appeared in up until now have seen their crime rates drop significantly. Some experts attribute it to a rise in the heroes' awareness."</p><p>"Wow, that's amazing!" Tomura cried sarcastically. "He's got the heroes doing their best to put food on their tables! The Punisher is also the Hero Breeder!"</p><p>He scowled. "It's too roundabout. We just don't agree at a baseline. Whatever. Mysterio let the Sentinals loose."</p><p>Mysterio silently acknowledged him, forming a portal from which three metallic, humanoid robots emerged. Tomura grinned viciously. "You think you can just stab me and get away with it?! If I wanna kill you, I just will! Let's have a little competition to see who can fuck shit up the most! I'm gonna grind your pride, self-worth, and your prestige into dust, 'O great Punisher!"</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Izuku stretched as he woke up from a short nap on the train, feeling his joints pop pleasantly. Pulling out his phone, he saw that it was getting late; it was already getting dark outside.</p><p>He turned to Sorahiko, who was leaning back in his seat patiently. "We're going to arrive at night at this rate, is that all right?"</p><p>Sorahiko smirked. "It's good <em>because</em> it's the night! Criminals are more active when it gets dark out. There'll be run-ins with the enemy this way! It'll be fun!"</p><p>That wasn't exactly what he'd call fun, but Izuku conceded that he was right. He looked at his phone again ( to check his messages, but there was still nothing from Tenya. Izuku frowned, his worry returning to him.</p><p>The train's overhead speaker turned on with a ding. "Attention, passengers we are currently undergoing an emergency stop-"</p><p>Izuku was jerked forward by the momentum suddenly grinding to a halt, only for an explosion to blow the side of the train wide open. A hero was violently thrown into the car, where he slammed into the floor, stunned. As he struggled to get up, a long, gray arm grabbed the hero's head and shoved him down again.</p><p>Another arm grabbed the torn metal and pushed it aside, revealing a gangly, robotic creature with four eyes. It made a low groaning sound and stared blankly at nothing in particular.</p><p>Izuku reacted in shock. "A Sentinel?!"</p><p>"Rookie, stay there!" Sorahiko roared, launching himself into the air and kicked the Sentinel's face, forcing it to release the hero it had caught, then threw his shield off the opposite wall of the train and slammed into the robot's gut, propelling it out of the train, through the concrete railroad guard, and into a building not far away with Sorahiko quickly running to catch up to it.</p><p>Izuku scrambled to his feet and rushed to the destroyed flank of the train to look outside after his mentor. His eyes widened as he saw an enormous fire raging further in the distance. Smoke billowed into the sky above the city. "What the...this is New York, right?!"</p><p>Two members of the train staff had rushed over to help with emergency aid for the hero and any wounded passengers. "Please return to your seats! The villain is no longer here! We've already called for heroes to help!"</p><p>Ignoring them, Izuku bounded out of the train and onto the railroad in pursuit of Sorahiko and to investigate the cause of the fire he saw. His mind was racing. </p><p>
  <em> What's was a Sentinel doing here?! Is the Brotherhood of Evil here, too?! I gotta get over there!</em>
</p><p>He reached the edge of the railroad and leaped off of it, landing on the closest building and running across the rooftop. He'd lost sight of Sorahiko- the veteran hero must've dragged Noumu somewhere further away from the train while Izuku was chasing them. With no idea as to where his mentor was now, he started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, closing the gap to the large fire as quickly as he could.</p><p>As he got closer, he leaped down onto the street and ran for the center of the commotion.</p><p>
  <em>If this Sentinel is as crazy powerful as the one at Avenger's Tower, then the whole city is in danger!</em>
</p><p>"T'challa!"</p><p>Izuku almost stopped in his tracks upon hearing the call and rushed towards the source, bolting through a short alley to see who it was. He came out on the other side just in time to see a bus getting thrown into a smaller car.</p><p> He froze in shock as he got a good look at the scene.</p><p>Two more Sentinels were rampaging, one a large behemoth, the other flying with bat-like wings held a hero aloft in its claws. There must have been a dozen heroes on the scene trying to fight them, but it didn't look like they were having much luck.</p><p>"What the ..." Izuku gasped.</p><p>"Manuel put out the fire!"</p><p>His head jerked towards a pair of heroes as one broke open a fire hydrant and another ran to it to point the water towards a raging inferno. Izuku recognized the latter of them as the hero who T'challa had been interning with.</p><p>Manuel glanced around in frustration. "Dammit, T'challa! Where'd you disappear to?!"</p><p>Confusion rushed through Izuku. T'challa had disappeared? Why? He wasn't the kind of person to just run off whenever he felt like it, especially at a time like this.</p><p>"Shit, look out!" Another hero yelled as the flying Sentinel suddenly flew above the flames, the gusts of wind from its wings feeding the fire and blowing it towards Manuel and the other hero. The water couldn't cover it all at once.</p><p>Without thinking, Izuku shot both of his web-shooters to get the two heroes out of the way.</p><p>"Who the hell-"</p><p>"Wait, you're T'challa's classmate!" Manual grabbed his shoulder and spun Izuku around, causing him to yelp. The Pro looked at him steadily. "Listen, thanks for that, but I need you to go and find T'challa! I don't know where he went! You can do that, right?! Get the civilians away from here and find him!"</p><p>Izuku nodded, too rush to form a reply. He ran off as quickly as he came, mind racing. <em>New York City's so big...where could he be?! Where do I even start to...</em></p><p>His blood suddenly chilled as he pieced it all together with a growing sense of horror. New York City. T'challa, who would normally never runoff from a dire situation like this, leaving the scene without even a word. This was the city where his father had been almost killed...</p><p>
  <em>By the Punisher.</em>
</p><p>"No," he breathed hoarsely. Izuku let One for All rush across his body as he started to race through the streets, trying to narrow down the places where T'challa might encounter the infamous villain.</p><p>
  <em>It'll be somewhere isolated where there aren't any people! Somewhere away from the center of the commotion!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>An alleyway!</em>
</p><p>Izuku checked the closest alleys as fast as he could, running without stopping for just over two minutes before his spider-sense went off he glanced down and saw three figures: One with a gun in his hand one who was sitting on the ground, with the other body motionless on the ground in a suit of armor.</p><p>Electricity rushed through his veins as he lunged into the alley, jumping from wall to wall and propelling himself forward in a blur of motion. The man holding the gun up flickered his gaze towards Izuku, having spotted or sensed him, but not in time to avoid the blow that came from the teenager.A fist of heated, thrumming energy was driven into Punisher's face, singing and shocking his skin even as the impact blew his body away from T'challa. He managed to regain his balance and skidded to a stop, lifting a hand to hold his jaw for a moment as he stared at Izuku in surprise. Izuku landed in front of T'challa's prone form and glared back at the Punisher. Izuku's eyes widened as he spotted another unconscious person leaning against the wall of the alley. It was a small-time villain he grits his teeth.  He didn't dare take his eyes off the villain, so he was relieved when T'challa spoke- Izuku had feared the worst.</p><p>"Spider-Man..." T'challa groaned, blood pooling from a puncture wound in his left shoulder. "What...what are you doing here?"</p><p>"I came to save you!" Izuku answered, readying himself for the fight of his life. He studied the Punisher carefully as the villain's sharp eyes began to assess the new arrival. "I remember reading that 60% of the Punisher's victims were found in isolated places away from lots of people like alleyways."</p><p>Punisher then realized exactly who he was looking at. </p><p>
  <em>So this is the infamous Spider-Man...Well, it seems more like Spider-kid.</em>
</p><p>Izuku tensed as Punisher righted himself.</p><p>"I can't move," T'challa growled in frustration. "It must be his Quirk...ever since I was shot, my body hasn't been able to do anything...Spider-Man, don't interfere," T'challa's voice was edged with something vicious, which startled his friend. "That bastard is mine...I'll get him myself!"</p><p>Izuku shifted his position more to the side to conceal his right hand, pulling his phone out behind his back and swiping to his contacts as quickly as he could from memory. He sent his location to all of his contacts and then pocketed the device as Punisher's expression became threatening again.</p><p>"You and your friend should leave kid." Punisher snarked. "Part of my code is that I don't kill kids. But  I have a duty to kill that villain. Should you stand between him and me..."</p><p>His red eyes glowed with malice. "I'll do what I did to your friend's father. So...what will you do?"</p><p>Izuku felt his skin crawl and his spider-sense seemed to screamed at him to escape. This guy was in a different class from the Brotherhood of Evil at Avenger's Tower. He was ruthless to his very core and had absolutely no qualms about injuring them if they got in his way.</p><p>But he couldn't just leave the villain to die. No matter what the villain had done in the past, he had to save him somehow.  He'd have to hold out until help came. </p><p>"Stop!" T'challa demanded. "Spider-Man, run away! This doesn't have anything to do with you!"</p><p>"If heroes listened to that, they wouldn't be able to do anything!" Izuku retorted. "Besides, it's just like Iron Might says: Meddling when you don't need to is the core of being a hero!"</p><p>Punisher's eyes went wide as a large grin covered his face. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Izuku made the first move.</p><p>He rushed at Punisher, a blur of arcing lightning. Punisher recognizing that Izuku would want to get close to him to counter his wider reach. His left hand grabbed a dagger at his waist to slash at him, but as Izuku closed the gap, he dove between Punisher's legs and came out behind him.</p><p>"Now you see me!"</p><p>Punisher spun around with another swipe of his blade but was shocked when he found Izuku wasn't there.</p><p>"Now you don't !"</p><p>He caught a glimpse of red above him and his eyes shot up- Izuku had used his web shooter to jumped as soon as he was behind Punisher, positioning himself above and behind his enemy. Punisher grinned widely. </p><p>
  <em>This kid is smart!</em>
</p><p>"5% Iron-Clad Gauntlet!" Izuku yelled, pounding his fist into the back of Punisher's head with all the force he could muster. The blow sent Punisher sprawling, but Izuku wasn't done. He knew better than to give him a break.</p><p>Still, in midair, he flipped forward, intending to drive his foot into the man's back. But as he came down, Punisher lunged to one side with incredible reflexes, regaining his footing with a few quick steps. Izuku landed and faced him again, preparing to charge once more.</p><p> But then suddenly Punisher fired off a few quick rounds that Izuku quickly dodged with only one grazing him. His mask somehow was able to scan one of them which quickly gave Izuku info on what he was dealing with.</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Foam Piercing rounds, once it's shot into the person it deploys a foam that stops the bleeding but causes paralysis for a short amount of time depends on the blood type. Most commonly used by Agents of Shield.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Izuku then quickly rushed the man making sure to dodge the bullets having to use a higher percentage then he was comfortable with of One for All. Once he got to him he tried to kick the gun out but was a second late. Although he didn't touch the gun, the sparks for One for All did- it released a spark through the metal which shot out the other side and stung the Punisher. The shock made Punisher recoil in surprise.</p><p>Another punch was driven into Punisher's face, smashing the back of his head into the wall of the building behind him. Stunned, Izuku was able to grab his wrist and twisted it, forcing him to drop the gun. It clattered to the ground.</p><p>"So tell me how does a boy-scout turn bad?"</p><p>Snarling, Punisher kicked at him with his spiked shoes, forcing Izuku to dart back. Punisher leaped away from the wall, putting some distance between them as he regrouped and tried to figure out what had just happened.</p><p>
  <em>Did he shock me? That doesn't make any sense; his Quirk makes him do what a spider does, not electricity! So what's with the lightning? And how did he figure that out about me ?"</em>
</p><p>Punisher wondered as the teenager charged him again with a scowl. He put the thought aside; it didn't matter. He needed to put this kid out of commission before one of the fakes regained their mobility or someone else showed up.</p><p> Izuku continued to rush him relentlessly. All he had to do was drive him away or knock him out- either would work as long as he got him away from T'challa and the villain.</p><p>But Punisher was <em>done</em> screwing around. </p><p>With a burst of speed, he propelled himself backward, causing Izuku's missed swing to throw him off-balance. In an instant, Punisher rushed forward and drove a dagger into Izuku's right shoulder.</p><p>Izuku screamed,  it hurt like all hell and then some. </p><p>"This is <em>mild</em> compared to all the times ive shattered my bones."</p><p>The teenager staggered back and pulled the dagger free of his shoulder with a gasp.</p><p>"Time for round to Punisher lets do this !"</p><p>Izuku was about to rush Punisher again when he felt his legs weaken with numbness from trying to push One fo All. His heart lurched. <em>Not now!</em></p><p>Punisher's gaze flew up to Izuku, insane with rage and the absolute desire to kill his perceived targets. In a blur of speed, Punisher rushed by Izuku, clotheslining him with a blow to the throat. Izuku's head slammed into the pavement below and sent black spots dancing across his eyes. One for All disappeared a moment later.</p><p>Panting and still obviously in pain, Punisher glared back at Izuku where he lay on the ground, he quickly grabbed his second gun and shot Izuku where he stabbed him. Immediately forcing paralysis upon Izuku.</p><p>"You're good for a kid, I'll give you that. A bit annoying but there's value in letting someone like you leave here mostly unscathed. You're different from these other guys. To think the son of a so-called Pro and king wouldn't, hah! That's some  irony!"</p><p>"Ugh..."</p><p>Izuku tried to push himself up, but he was completely paralyzed. Nothing was responding save his eyes and mouth. Heart pounding, he could only watch as Punisher made his way over to the still-immobilized T'challa putting in a different magazine and aimed at his spine. </p><p>"St-stop!"</p><p>Suddenly  Punisher was jumping into the air above a stream of fire. He landed a few paces away from T'challa and glared at the new arrival with annoyance. "It's one thing after another today...my work keeps getting interrupted."</p><p>Another teenager had joined the fray, his left side alights in a fire as he pocketed his phone. </p><p>" Araña, when you send something like this, you give more information!"</p><p>"Shoto!" Izuku almost wanted to cry in relief.</p><p>T'challa stared at the newcomer with wide eyes. "Why are you here?"</p><p>Shoto got between Punisher and the two paralyzed heroes on the ground, unleashing a stream of fire in an attempt to trap the villain. Punisher leaped away, avoiding it with ease and putting some extra distance between them quickly putting in a different clip into his pistol. Shoto followed up with another thrown fireball. "Don't worry, in a few minutes, the Pros will be here, too! In the meantime, I'm not going to let you hurt these guys!"</p><p>Izuku shouted to him from his spot on the ground. "Shoto, don't let that guy shoot you the ammo he uses paralyzes people!"</p><p>"So that's how he does it, huh?" Shoto muttered, preparing another heat blast. In a sudden flash of movement that he barely caught, a dagger was thrown at his face. He barely managed to keep it from hitting his eye, but it still sliced open his left cheek.</p><p>Punisher let out a laugh. "You've got some good friends, Black Panther!"</p><p>"Why are you two doing this!?" T'challa demanded on the ground. "Please stop! I...I've inherited my father's title. It has to be me! I have to do it!"</p><p>"You inherited it? That's odd," Shoto retorted. "I don't remember Black Panther ever having that expression on his face. I know that you've got a lot going on behind the scenes with your family. But even so-"</p><p> Shoto yelled in pained surprise as a pair of thrown daggers buried themselves into his left arm. Cringing from the shock, he let his guard down enough for Punisher to jump so he could come down on the pass out villain with his knife at the ready.</p><p>"You're a good one, too!" Stain declared to Shoto, eyes fixed on his victim.</p><p>But Punisher was suddenly yanked back as something sticky grabbed his hair from behind and pulled hard. Punisher grunted as his neck arched painfully and then he was being thrown away.</p><p>"Hey Punisher forgot about me ?"</p><p>He flipped to regain his balance and scowled once he landed- Izuku was back on his feet. </p><p>
  <em>On top of being annoying as all hell to fight, this guy's blood type is O?</em>
</p><p>"I can move normally again," Izuku gasped as he retreated to Shoto.</p><p>"A time limit?" Shoto queried.</p><p>"Yes the effectiveness of the bullet is based on blood type"</p><p>Izuku flexed his arms, testing the feeling in them and his legs before frowning- he wasn't going to be able to use One for All for very much longer. But now that Shoto was here...</p><p>"Let's tag team this support me from the back, I'll keep him at a distance and try to knock him out!" Izuku told Shoto.</p><p>Shoto nodded. "That's a big risk, but I can't think of anything better. The two of us just have to protect them until the Pros show up."</p><p>Izuku rushed Punisher again, He flung himself at the villain, who flipped over them and tried to slash at Izuku's head, but was blocked by more of Shoto's fire. Scowling, Punisher regained his balance only for Izuku's fist to smash into the base of his spine.</p><p>But Izuku wasn't left unscathed as the breath was driven from Izuku's lungs as Punisher's heel flew back and slammed into his chest, scratching him with one of the metal spikes. Before the Hero Killer could spin around to take him down again, Shoto unleashed another stream of fire to force him away. It gave Izuku a moment to recover so he could leap back into the fray.</p><p>"Please..." T'challa cried, hot tears streaming down his face. "Both of you...you shouldn't be bleeding for this...it's my duty to-"</p><p>"I've been worried about you ever since I heard your father was attacked," Shoto stopped him, watching as Izuku and Punisher battled to look for any opportunity to attack or defend. "I know what it's like to have all that pent-up resentment inside of you and how much it screws with you. It narrows your view until you can't focus on anything but getting payback."</p><p>"You want us to stop? Then get up! Set your eyes on what you want to be!"</p><p>Izuku let out a yelp as Punisher dove under a stream of webs and came up to slam the butt of his gun into the boy's temple, stunning him and forcing his body out of One for All. As he fell, the Hero Killer rushed towards Shoto, brandishing his weapon for a knockout blow. He ducked and weaved past the flurry of fire that was meant to stop him and made it past Shoto's guard in a matter of seconds. "Has anyone ever told you? You're too focused on your Quirk! You're careless!"</p><p>There was a flicker of motion and Punisher's eyes widened in surprise as the sound of metal shattering sang through the air. He realized T'challa was back on his feet, having shot forward to deliver a powerful kick. The force of the blow broke one of Punisher's gun in half and T'challa was quick to follow up with another kick that the villain barely managed to block with his arms.</p><p>The Punisher was launched away from Shoto and regained his footing once more, baring his teeth angrily. <em>Dammit!</em></p><p>Shoto let out a nervous breath as he glanced from T'challa to Stain. "You got free. His bullets aren't as powerful as I thought."</p><p>T'challa wiped the mess of tears from his face and swallowed. "Spider-Man, Shoto, this has nothing to do with you, and for that, I apologize."</p><p>Izuku threw his friend a slightly exasperated look from his place on the ground. "You're still saying that?!"</p><p>"I'm sorry," T'challa choked out. "I don't want to see you two hurt for my sake anymore."</p><p>Punisher's grip on his other pistol tightened and the veins in his face bulged slightly. "Quit the reformation act! You're making me sick. People don't change so easily- no matter what you say now, you will never be anything more than a fake who prioritizes his selfish desires! You're cancer to society that poisons the name 'hero'. Someone has to set you right!"</p><p>"You're an anachronistic fundamentalist," Shoto snapped, rejecting the psychopath's words immediately. "T'challa, ignore him. He's trying to get a rise out of you."</p><p>"No, he's right," T'challa shook his head stiffly. "I don't have the right to call myself a hero for acting out of vengeance. But I cannot surrender here- if I did, then Black Panther would die!"</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Punisher lunged at them but had to dart away when Shoto launched a stream of flames at him. Izuku was still trying to recover from getting hit in the head by the but of Punisher's gun and had to remain down for a few more moments to stop the world from spinning.</p><p>"Something changed just now. He's flustered," Shoto yelled out.</p><p>Izuku managed to force himself to his hands and knees- even with his head still blurry, he knew what was going on with Punisher. There's the uncertain element of blood type and the risk of having to be accurate while fighting three different people. On top of that, the bullets last very long. Looking at just himself, he's not that strong...Taking on multiple opponents at once must be difficult for him, but now he's gotten desperate trying to kill Tenya and Native before the Pros show up. </p><p>
  <em>His tenacity is insane! Anyone else would've turned and left it as a lost cause by now!</em>
</p><p>T'challa was about to jump into the fight, but he suddenly looked at his armor. </p><p>An idea suddenly came to his head and he turned to Shoto in an instant. "Shoto, can you adjust temperature?!"</p><p>"I can't do it well, why?!"</p><p>"I need you to hit me with everything you got!" T'challa demanded, causing Shoto to look at him in confusion. That glance gave Punisher an opening to throw a pair of knives at him. T'challa threw himself in front of Shoto, taking the blades hilt-deep in his right arm.</p><p>"Tenya!"</p><p>"Just do it!"</p><p>Punisher leaped high into the air by jumping from wall to wall, intending to dive on the teenagers from above while Shoto was burning T'challa. But as he prepared to go down, his eyes caught sight of Izuku regaining his footing. The boy stood up and with an upwards tilt of his chin, let One for All flow over his body again.</p><p>"Ready for round three boy-scout?"</p><p>He then charged up a little too much energy into his legs to propel himself at the Hero Killer in the air. He swung a fist at the villain, who managed to twist his body to avoid the blow to his head. Punisher glanced down just in time to see T'challa rocketing up towards him with his armor fully lit up.</p><p> T'challa flew up to Punisher with such speed he couldn't react in time. A vicious, unforgiving kick pulverized Punisher's ribs, followed by a second blow with T'challa's knee into his face. The double impact drove them apart away, giving Shoto the opening he needed.</p><p>Shoto's left side flared up in an instant and he unleashed a stream of fire at the villain. Stain responded on instinct, just enough to twist and avoid the flames. He howled in fury at the teenager. <em>"Missed!"</em></p><p>Unexpectedly, Shoto grinned. <em>"Did I?"</em></p><p>Punisher suddenly realized he'd forgotten about Izuku still above him. He twisted his head in time to see Izuku. He was too close to miss.</p><p>Within seconds, Izuku was upon the Punisher and hit him with a web strike knocking him out. Shoto's flames then went to smite Punisher with all the heat he could muster. The villain was seared alive and lost consciousness immediately, the toll of his wounds and the incredible heat too much even for him.</p><p>Izuku managed to stop Punisher and T'challa from hurting themselves from the fall by using the webs as they regroup it became clear that Punisher was down.</p><p> Izuku let go of One For All as he groaned, looking up at Punisher's prone form wearily. "He's...he's gotta be done after all that, right?"</p><p>Shoto sighed in relief, letting himself relax a bit. "Just to be safe, let's take his weapons off of him and tie these two up with some webs."</p><p>A few minutes later, Shoto had frisked Stain and relieved him of any remaining weapons he had. Izuku and T'challa had then tied the villains' arms behind there back with webs to restrain them. </p><p>"Th-thanks," Izuku managed, feeling more exhausted than he had in a long time.</p><p>"Don't mention it," Shoto said as the carried the villain out of the alleyway. While Tenya carried The Punisher</p><p>"Huh? What the hell are you doing here?!"</p><p>The three of them looked across the street to spot a little old man watching them dubiously. But upon seeing his charge hurt, Sorahiko shot forward and planted a foot in Izuku's face, making him yelp. </p><p>"I told you, Rookie, to stay on the train!"</p><p>Shoto blinked in confusion as he dragged the Hero Killer behind him with his good arm. "Who's this?"</p><p>"The hero I'm interning with," Izuku replied, eyes smarting from the reprimanding kick. "But why're you here?"</p><p>"I was told to come here!" Sorahiko snapped. "Well, I don't know what's going on, but I'm glad you're okay."</p><p>"I'm sorry."</p><p>Sorahiko rolled his eyes. <em>Geez, of course, the aggravating trait he gets from  Toshinori is THIS one!</em></p><p>Soon after, they were set upon by a group of heroes, who figured out the situation quickly and sorted out calling an ambulance for the teenagers and the police to take the two villains into custody. In the end, their battle with Punisher had only lasted for something like ten minutes. But that didn't stop Izuku sitting down to regain his energy.</p><p>Sorahiko sighed. "You pushed yourself too far, huh?"</p><p>"Yeah," Izuku whispered, "Barely ten minutes of using One For All that way made me like this. If it went on any longer, I would've been useless..."</p><p>"You'll have to get in touch with the support office to see about finding some way to protect you from those effects. If this is what it does to you at just 5%, going any further with it without precautions might do a lot more than just make you tired ."The boy just nodded, too exhausted to say otherwise. </p><p>T'challa approached his friend and bowed his head as his body trembled with emotion. "I'm sorry, Spider-Man. I...I couldn't see past my anger...and you  bled for it..."Izuku smiled at him somberly. "I'm sorry, too. I should've realized how badly you were hurting."Shoto nodded as well as he walked towards them and set a hand on T'challa's shoulder, squeezing it in a friendly way. "Pull yourself together. You're <em>Black Panther,</em> aren't you?"T'challa wiped his eyes with his good arm. "Yes-"</p><p><em>"</em>You guys! Are you okay?!<em>"</em>Izuku was wide awake all of a sudden at the sound of Ochako's panicky voice. He looked up to see that Ochaco and Dr.Strange had made it to the scene.</p><p>"I-I'm fine, r-really!" Izuku stammered. "I mean, yeah, we got hurt a bit, but we're fine now!"</p><p><em>"</em>How much is a bit? You've gotten some really bad injuries before!<em>"</em></p><p>"Um..." He bit his lip hesitantly. Telling her they all got stabbed was probably not the solution he needed. How to tell her without making her freak out more-</p><p>"Nothing near as bad as the Sports Festival...We'll have some scars, but we all came out of it alright. Aside from that, just some cuts and bruises," Shoto said bailing out Izuku</p><p><em>"</em>I see...<em>"</em> She let out an audible breath. <em>"</em>I'm glad you three are okay. When I got your message with just your location Izuku, it made me nervous<em>."</em></p><p>"I'm sorry I worried you. There was so much going on, I couldn't get in touch with anyone."</p><p><em>"</em>No, it's okay. Make sure you rest a lot and you can tell me about it later, okay<em>?"</em></p><p>Suddenly time seemed to slow for Izuku as he caught sight of something in the air- something flying down at them. He shouted a warning. "Get down!"Before they could process what was happening, the flying Sentinel from the earlier fight had descended in a blur of speed and tried to grab Ochaco but Izuku acted quickly to push her out of the way making the Sentinel grab him instead. With a mighty flap of its wings, it shot back into the air, intent on escaping with its prey.</p><p>"Wall-Crawler!" Ochaco yelled in alarm.</p><p>Sorahiko was trying to measure the distance as he prepared to shoot off his shield. <em>Oh no, if he gets too high, I won't hit them! </em></p><p>The sound of a gunshot behind them made everyone freeze, even as <em>something </em>rush towards the Sentinel as it started to fall. A wraith of shadows moved in a blur of speed, leaping high into the air with a dagger at the ready.</p><p>
  <em>"This society is ridden with fake heroes...and the villains who wave their power around idly...<b>SHOULD ALL BE PURGED</b>!"</em>
</p><p>A spray of the metallic pieces that made up the sentinel curtained the air as Punisher drove his blade hilt-deep into Sentinel's brain, killing it instantly. The beast was slammed into the ground and skidded along with the concrete before coming to a stop. Punisher held Izuku by the back of his costume, having saved him from hitting the ground.</p><p> The villain tore his dagger free of the body and staggered, spittle drooling from his gaping mouth as he tried to regain his breath. "This is all...for the sake of...a more just society..."</p><p>The heroes still grouped were stunned for a moment and prepared to act when someone called to them. "What are you lot doing? The villain should have flown this way!"They spun towards the voice to find Ghost Rider running into the street to evaluate the situation. His eyes locked onto the figure of Punisher and the Sentinel, realizing in an instant who he was looking at. Punisher spotted the number two hero out of the corner of his eye and turned towards him with a raspy breath. "Rider..."</p><p>"The Punisher!" Ghost Rider sneered triumphantly, readying ablaze in his hand. Sorahiko held a hand out frantically. "Wait!"The call gave Ghost Rider pause; pause just enough for Punisher to turn towards them <em>"<b>ANOTHER PHONY</b>!"</em></p><p>Even half-dead as he was, the intensity of his voice, his bloodlust, and his utter hatred sent icy cold flowing through the veins of even the most veteran hero present. They all reared away from Punisher instinctively as he staggered towards them, blood and spittle dripping from his mouth with every unsteady step like a fiend possessed. Even Ghost Rider stepped away from him hesitantly.</p><p><em>"</em>I must set things right...someone must be stained in blood...I must take back what it means to be a hero! Cause if not..... my family would have died in vain. You people, you call me the Punisher, ain't that right? The big bad Punisher. Well, here I am!  I am the Punisher! I'm right here! You want it, I'll give it to you. Just try and get me, you fakes! But know this the only one allowed to kill me is the true hero! <em><b>IRON MIGHT</b></em>!<em>"</em></p><p>The air around him felt oppressive, as though death itself were pressing upon them with the gleeful knowledge that it held their lives in its grasp and could claim them with ease. Their hearts pounded and the blood roared in their ears at the sight of the bloody demon snarling at them with a red-tinted moon behind him. Every step closer made them shiver in fear-</p><p>-the sharp sound of metal striking concrete snapped them out of it. Sorahiko stared at Punisher warily and realized that his eyes were sightless and his body showed no signs of moving any further.</p><p>"He's...unconscious..."</p><p>Shoto and Tenya fell back onto the ground, eyes wide and barely able to breathe. Izuku couldn't even find it in himself to remain propped up on his arms and fell back onto the street, his eyes fixing themselves on the sky. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and let himself go limp with relief.</p><p>It was over.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"Shit!" Tomura snapped angrily, making his binoculars crumble into dust out of frustration. Aggravated, he began to scratch his neck furiously. "First that Spider brat gets in the way of my optional target then Punisher kills that Sentinel and stops it from even bringing me that kid! There's so much I want to say I can't even keep up! Why the hell won't things go my way?!"</p><p>Mysterio merely remained silent as he regarded his charge. The other two Sentinel had also been captured after they were subdued by Ghost Rider and The Captain.</p><p>Tomura was done with New York. He grunted to Mysterio. "Let's go back."</p><p>"Are these results to your satisfaction?"</p><p>".....That depends on tomorrow."</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
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    <em>
      <span class="u">(so back with another chapter and ngl I mess up when I originally made this story with who I wanted as a certain character so I went back to write it and here is that specific part.)</span>
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<p>Izuku rubbed his face tiredly. Even though he'd slept throughout the night and most of the day, he was still so tired...using One for All took so much out of him. It would take a lot of training before he could use it without exhausting himself to maintain the fusion.  He also had to call his aunt to let her know that he was alright- no doubt the hospital had informed her already that he was with them.<br/><br/></p>
<p>He, Tenya, and Shoto had all been treated for their wounds, but there was some lasting damage. Tenya's arms had been affected the worst by the stab wounds and he had permanent damage- it wouldn't exceed more than some difficulty moving his fingers and hands, as well as some numbness, but it was still bad news. Although there was the chance the damage could be repaired with nerve transplant surgery, Tenya insisted on keeping his arms that way until he felt he'd redeemed himself for acting so selfishly to find the Hero Killer.</p>
<p>Thankfully, Izuku and Shoto didn't have lasting damage beyond some rather nasty looking scars, but they were confined to the hospital for a day while a doctor analyzed some tests he'd taken to check for anything else. In the end, they'd been lucky.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that wasn't all. </p>
<p>"You're a very difficult person to contact, Spider-Man"</p>
<p>The trio looked up to see a man with an eye patch entering their room with Sorahiko and Manual behind him.</p>
<p>The man then looked at all three of them ending on Shoto.</p>
<p>"How are you doing Reyes?"</p>
<p>"Alright, all things considered."</p>
<p>The man gave him a nod then looked at T'challa.</p>
<p>"Sorry about what happened to your father kid."</p>
<p>"It's alright Director he...knew the risks I'm just thankful he's still alive."</p>
<p>As this interaction took place Izuku was trying to figure out who the man was.</p>
<p>
  <em>'Wait director and Reyes know him so....'</em>
</p>
<p>"Your Nick Fury."</p>
<p>Fury then turned to Izuku.</p>
<p>"In the flesh so good to finally meet you I saw you at the Sports Festival, but I didn't think that was a good time to exchange numbers."</p>
<p>"No, that would have been inappropriate."</p>
<p>"That's what I just said."</p>
<p>"Right."</p>
<p>"So anyways what brought me here is what you boys did last night."</p>
<p>The trio then gave him their attention.</p>
<p>"First off on the behalf of SHEILD I want to thank you for capturing The Punisher. He used to be one of our own and I'm glad you stopped him before he could continue his crusade. But as well you three did use your quirks to stop him with only Reyes and Spider-Man here having permission to do so. So I see there are three options." He continued. "We can tell the story as it happened. You three will be praised by the public but the prince here will have to face charges and we all know how that will go. Second is we just say that it was Spider-Man and Reyes. Or the third due to the burns The Punisher has we can say that it was Ghost Rider and none of you get credit for it."</p>
<p>It was silent for a moment as the three considered their options. They eventually decided on the last option, so that they could avoid any possible consequences.</p>
<p> If they insisted on claiming their victory over him, the police would be forced to charge them with vigilantism and they'd have a permanent mark on their records. But they offered an alternative; the burns on Stain's body would suggest that Endeavor had fought him instead, so he could claim the credit and the boys would get off scot-free.</p>
<p>It was frustrating and unfair, but they knew there was only one choice. They had to be grateful that SHEILD was extending this offer to them at all. t They had to be strict on heroes to make sure the didn't abuse the power they had, after all. So it was with thankful reluctance that the boys took the offer and agreed to never say anything about their defeat of Punisher.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"That kid!" Sorahiko muttered over the phone. He could practically hear Toshinori's body shaking and he was completely alright with that- he <em>should</em> be nervous! "Over three days, he gets my pay cut for half a year! Well, given the circumstances I guess it's only natural, but he's picked up all of your bad habits!"</p>
<p>Toshinori gulped. "I can't apologize enough, sir. My teaching has been inadequate..."</p>
<p>"Enough of that," Sorahiko rolled his eyes. "I didn't call you for this. I called because of the Punisher. I was only around him for a couple of minutes, but he sent a chill down my spine in that short amount of time."</p>
<p>"Frightening you is no small feat," Toshinori admitted. "But he's in police custody now, right?"</p>
<p>"He had such an intense conviction that it momentarily overwhelmed me. His obsessive fixture was incredible. I'm not praising him, but it reminded me of that same quality you have- that whole "Symbol of Peace" thing. In short, it's charisma."</p>
<p>"For better or for worse, the age we live in is one of oppression. When his ideology gets out, and it <em>will</em> get out, people who have been influenced by that environment will start to gather together. If it was one after another, it'd be no different than what happened to Stain, but now the Brotherhood of Evil is becoming associated with this."</p>
<p>Toshinori stiffened, understanding quickly where this was going.</p>
<p>"They've got a place to go to, now," Torino warned. "The Brotherhood of Evil has appeared to be a group that follows Punisher's ideology. They're not going to look like some delinquent organization anymore, other villains will start to take them seriously and join them. It won't take long before those specks of evil swell up until they're swarming as a unit."</p>
<p>There was a pause. "If the enemy general knew this would happen, then he's pretty good."</p>
<p>"...I don't want to imagine a reality where he survived that injury."</p>
<p>"He's steadily moving obstacles away, setting the pieces on the board the way he wants. Just as he did before. The man who killed Stane and put that arc reactor in your chest...The Mandarin is probably starting to move again. Toshinori..."</p>
<p>Toshinori almost crushed his phone as his face twisted into a snarl. <em>"Over my dead body!"</em></p>
<p> </p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
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    <p>His three remaining days of study and training under Sorahiko had been utter hell on Izuku, but he wanted it no other way. Every time he knocked him down he stood back up and asked for more, he always said he needed to work twice as hard as others. He pushed him to his limits again and again, but it was up to Izuku to break past them.</p><p>After his fight with the Punisher, Izuku knew he couldn't remain the same. The faster he mastered his powers and became as strong as possible the more he would be able to change what was wrong. His progress had exploded after he pushed himself beyond what he thought he could do; his only limits were himself. It frustrated him to no end, but he also knew doing too much could hinder him. He felt his confidence strengthen with every failure though, it meant there was still more to learn and improve. </p><p>His strength had defiantly increased, along with his other base abilities, Sorahiko had made sure of that. But his muscles had gained their shape, Iron Might had made his body able to handle One For All by bulking it up as fast as possible. Sorahiko had taken what was there and chiseled it down. All the tempering and control over his workouts had increased his flexibility, and his leg muscles were well used. Before where his kicks had been linear and easy to spot, Sorahiko had spared with him repeatedly until he made his style completed. He had also mixed in various martial arts to teach him to fight properly, rather than wildly swing with all his strength behind each move.</p><p>He had managed to increase his control over One for All to a constant 10%, he could briefly power up to either 15 or 20% for various moves without breaking his body. The increased power allowed him to fire small air bullets from his flicks and kicks</p><p>"For now, I don't have anything left to teach you, before you leave though go get me your Hero costume." Izuku looked at him funny, but he told him to get it. Once he handed him the outfit he took it and told him to go pack his things as he worked on something. It was a little-known fact, as not many people knew tiny details about him, but Sorahiko had many hobbies related to art. He took out a sewing kit along with a needle and thick white thread.</p><p>By the time he had finished his work a well sewn two white stars placed on the arms of Izuku's costume. It was only the size of a fist, not nearly as big as the one that covered his entire chest.   Izuku took it and stared at the stars with reverence, he bowed. </p><p>"I hope we keep in contact and thank you for the work-study. It was far more than I could have ever hoped for and I can't express how grateful I am for everything you did for me." The message was short and brief, but it was the only way Izuku could have said it without becoming a mumbling mess</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Izuku passed his one day of recovery at home before school began in a bit of a daze. Lots had happened at his work-study with Sorahiko, Some of his fellow students greeted him, and others watched as he walked by, as though they could feel a difference in him from the festival. He saw Shinso in a hallway and tossed him a friendly smile that was reciprocated with a small smile and nod of acknowledgment. Finally, his class door came into view and the feeling of hesitation came back.</p><p>He opened the door and a few of his classmates were already there. Most discussions were about the work studies, Eijirou and Denki were making fun of Flash's hair, and T'challa and Shoto were together in the back. Izuku was quickly approached by his various friends and asked about his work-study, but he lightly greeted them and said he would tell them later. He walked forward with purpose and placed his hand on Flash's shoulder. His hair that he was complaining about being stuck in a flattened state popped out with an explosion and a curled lip greeted him.</p><p>"We need to talk." The glare was ignored, and he pushed down his old fears, he wasn't the same anymore. Either they would restore what they once held as old childhood friends, or something new would come about. Whatever the result may be Izuku was done running it was time to confront his problems.</p><p> </p><p>Whatever conversations may have been held were silenced as the two boys stared one another down. They were silent as Flash brushed Izuku's hand off his shoulder and stood taller, if only by a few inches. Izuku had expected outrage or anger, and while it was there, he also noticed Flash was still rather subdued.</p><p>"Let's go," Flash said over his shoulder. He was quick to follow him and finish their discussion before class began in fifteen minutes. Once they were outside the classroom Flash continued to walk until he stopped in a secluded hallway. They faced one another and stood in silence until Flash raised his voice.</p><p>"Speak." He said. Izuku took that as his cue and released his breath while he stood tall.</p><p>"I already told you this, but I'll say it again. Everything I said about not competing with you, I take it back. I'm done hiding in your shadow and cowering, we are both aiming to be the best Hero. From now on we are equals and rivals, I'll defeat you with my power." The anger he expected was finally there in full force.</p><p>"Dammit you stupid nerd, you were a pebble on my path. How the hell am I supposed to destroy you when you already won." Izuku looked in shock at that.</p><p>"Flash, what are you..." He was interrupted.</p><p>"SHUT UP! Shit, shit shit shit, where did I go wrong. The best hero is never supposed to lose, he always wins, so how did I lose to you, you damn wall-crawler!" A deep breath passed through Izuku. He needed to keep his cool and talk his way through this with Flash if they ever wanted closure.</p><p>"Have I ever told you my image of victory, it's you Flash. Ever since we were young I've always looked up to you. I don't know how or when you got the notion I was looking down on you, but I wasn't. For the longest time, I admired everything about you, I wanted to be just like you." His words came out in a calm and cold truth that hung in the air. Flash looked near on the verge of tears while he slumped.</p><p>"Then where did I go wrong, if I was so much better than you, why did I lose. Was my ideal wrong, the best Hero should always win, no matter the odds. Shouldn't he?" Izuku could feel the pain in his gaze as they bleed their feelings towards each other for the first time ever.</p><p>"You weren't wrong, and I don't think I was right either. I've seen and had a lot of different mentalities thrown at me recently. What I learned is that you need power and resolve to back your beliefs. But if I were to symbolize the Hero that saves everyone, and you the Hero who always wins, then why can't we be both together.</p><p>"We can both be the best Heroes who always win and rescue everyone. I don't want to fight you anymore Flash, I want to be like we once were. Before pride, before arrogance, before ideals, can't we just be friends both working together towards our goals? Rivals that'll push each other to be better and always try our best?" Izuku bared his heart with his final push to reclaim his friend.</p><p>Flash was deathly silent as he took everything in. He had thought and been stuck on this same issue for so long that he didn't know how to let it go. There truthfully wasn't a reason against what Izuku was saying. One thing was still unresolved though.</p><p>"What about that borrowed power you lied to me about." Izuku took in a sharp breath, but very subtlety so he didn't alert Flash. He knew it would eventually come up; at one point he might have even told him. As he was now though, Izuku had a support group and someone he trusted deeply and had already shared his secret with.</p><p>"Truthfully, that was how I felt, I didn't know what else to say without you feeling I had lied to you. With more time to study and learn how my Quirk works, however, I don't feel like that anymore. I told you my power was borrowed and someone else had given me my power because it was true to me.</p><p>"Shortly after that encounter I had with the lizard, I met an injured Hero. He had seen me rush into the situation and told me that was the true spirit of a Hero that he was looking for. As a retired Hero he had been delegated as a personal trainer when I told him of my dream to enter M.A.  he was inspired.</p><p>"With his knowledge, he trained me to be as physically able to handle the exam as I could be. It was during that time that my Quirk awakened, the doctors believed I was Quirkless, but I wasn't. Since I had never heavily worked out before my body wasn't strong enough to handle my Quirk, it was protecting itself.</p><p>"Once my Quirk awakened, I initially thought it was a spider quirk that also had a strength enhancer, so I fired it off at full power all the time and broke my bones. Now that I've had time to work with it though I've learned what it really is. My body produces energy that I can direct to interact with my body in diverse ways. Truthfully I am blessed, what is only one Quirk seems like many because of its unique ability.</p><p>"I didn't believe I was worthy of that power and felt like it had been given to me by my trainer. You've had your whole life to learn what I'm just now putting into practice. So, I'll continue to grow and get stronger, I'd like to do that with my friend at my side. Can we go back to how things used to be Flash, can we be friends again?" Izuku knew the story wasn't the full truth, but enough was blended in to come off as earnest. The last bit would also allow him to cover his other Quirks granted from One For All.</p><p>They stood there for a few minutes as Flash took in the information. Izuku grinned as Bakugo slowly raised his fist and held it out to Izuku with a small smile on his face. The gesture was reciprocated and Izuku lightly bumped fists with him as they grinned at one another.</p><p>"It's nice to have my friend back Flash," He said. Bakugo grunted as he smirked and headed back to the classroom throwing insults back at him. Izuku knew Flash still had doubts about the story but the weight and snark they used to hold were gone though. Instead, it was the light banter of two old friends messing with one another as they went about teasing one another.</p><p>Their classroom came up quickly as they entered together. The other students were utterly stunned and didn't know how to react as they entered. Izuku headed toward his seat with a wide smile.</p><p> The class continued their conversations as Izuku made his way to talk with Tenya and Shoto before the class began. Both greeted him with a small smile as they talked in whispers about their battle.</p><p>"I wanted to tell you both the good news once we were back. My father is finally being released from the hospital, also he won't be able to resume his Hero duties, but the feeling has come back slowly to his legs. The best guess right now is that he won't ever have full mobility back, but my father may one day walk again." T'challa had a bright smile as he relayed the news.</p><p>Their conversation had been overheard as the whole class was paying attention to them. A difference had been noted in the subtle aura the three gave off, whether they knew it or not, each held themselves just a bit taller.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
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    <p>Class proceeded quickly as their teacher directed the class on what their new goals would be as finals were approaching. His section of the day passed quickly as Izuku took notes and thought over the progress he'd made.</p><p>The rapid pace continued as Izuku grabbed his costume as he and the class had been told. Once they were dressed they were to head over to ground beta for a special Hero class with Iron Might. After everyone was dressed and a quick bus ride filled with the idle chat they arrived at the grounds. Izuku noticed that his class was giving him odd looks whenever he answered them and conversed, but he put it to the side.</p><p>With Iron Might before him, Izuku noticed for the first time that his admiration was still there, but it felt less clouded. He felt as though he was seeing Iron Might for the first time not as the unreachable symbol of peace, but his mentor and teacher. Iron Might gave them a rundown on the exercise they would be facing as their first test back from the work studies.</p><p>He along with four others would start at equal distances apart and race towards the center of the arena. Their goal was to rescue a "distressed" citizen in the form of Iron Might. While he got into his position he briefly heard the rest of the class talking about who would win.</p><p>"It's got to be Izuku, he's got the best Quirk and mobility for the exercise." They debated back and forth as the race was almost ready.</p><p>"What about Mina and Eijirou, you can't count out the mobility of their Quirks either. Iida is an excellent choice too, but he's still injured right?" As the conversation heated up, Flash had a sudden urge to defend Izuku after so long of putting him down.</p><p>"Don't count Izuku out, he said he had a major development with his Quirk." The other students and even Murdock turned at that interest. Normally Murdock would have left the class alone to Ill Might and reviewed the footage later. As the finals were coming up and they were fresh back from work studies, he wanted to see their progress himself.</p><p>Everyone had a question on the tip of their tongue they wanted to ask. Regardless of what they wanted to ask, however, Flash didn't know more as that was all Izuku had told him. Before the questions could start through a loud siren-like noise rang out as Iron Might called over the speakers.</p><p>"Start!" They all turned to the monitor with interest in what would be displayed.</p><p><em>' The definition I gave to Flash for my Quirk works in my favor. I should get used to using everything I have at my disposal while around my allies. Start at 5% and adjust to the situation.' </em>Plan in mind Izuku shot up towards the roofs of the buildings the second the signal was given.</p><p>He shot himself off various surfaces and bounced to the roofs while observing his surroundings. There were lots of slippery surfaces and small pipes he could easily lose footing on, but he had experience on his side. Seeing nothing that he deemed an obstacle, Izuku raised his power to 10% as green electricity surged up.</p><p>He shot off at double his speed well increasing the fairlead he already had. As he looked around to determine where Iron Might and thus the goal where they came into sight. Izuku saw a pipe in front of him angled just right for his plan and purposely slipped off it. With his angle and speed from falling calculated he shot his webs to the pipe and slingshot himself straight to the finish.</p><p>As he landed he went to reach for the goal before he stopped. When he looked around he noticed Iron Might was inside a see though cube that appeared to be made of glass. Around Izuku's feet, he noticed five separate small indents that looked like pressure plates. He moved away from the glass and stepped onto the plate, as he did a small green light flashed around it.</p><p>Understanding the general concept behind what was happening, he stood his place on the plate and awaited his fellow classmates' arrival. When they showed up one by one they first shot him questions one after another before he directed them to step on a plate of their own and wait. After everyone arrived and all plates were stepped on the glass around Iron Might let out a sound and drop open around all of them.</p><p>"Well done Heroes, this is a good lesson. It's true you must each grow and use your own strengths. But don't forget true Heroes work with those around them to complete a common goal." Iron Might smirked and gave a thumbs up to his students and told them to rest while he called the next set. With the others gone he whispered under his breath to Izuku.</p><p>"Hardly recognized you there kid. Keep up the excellent work, I can see you are progressing fast." Izuku took the words with pride as he was about to walk off with his classmates when he felt Iron Might put his hand on his shoulder and whispered.</p><p>"Meet me after school we need to have a talk."</p><p>Izuku look backed and nodded then walked to his classmates who bombarded him with questions, but he was happy to answer(besides what Iron Might asked), the weight he used to feel around them lifted and they were all on equal footing as Hero hopefuls. He always placed more weight on his shoulders than he realized, but with his increased confidence it lifted more with each day.</p><p>"Ah, Izuku, come in." Toshinori gestured to the inside of the small office he often occupied. "I know my message was a bit sudden, but I felt like this couldn't wait any longer."</p><p>Izuku joined his mentor, taking a seat on the chair opposite the couch Toshinori usually occupied. "Yeah of course, what's going on?"</p><p>"It's... well first what do you call that new power of yours?"</p><p>Izuku looked at him blankly, "Well I haven't thought of one yet."</p><p>"H'm interesting well why not full cowling cause it seems to go over you like you know a cowl."</p><p>"Hm, that could work."</p><p>"Damn it we're getting off-topic...You remember the Sentinel, I expect?"</p><p>Izuku turned pale. "Yeah, there were some just like the robot we fought at the tower and in the city. I just don't understand, who would want to make them?"</p><p>"I'm afraid it may be more complicated than that." Toshinori sighed deeply. "Tell me, what do you remember about our conversation regarding One for All?"</p><p>The boy pondered for a moment. "You said One For All stockpiles energy as it's passed from person to person. This energy can be used by the wielder, but the energy is so great that if their physique isn't strong enough, they could hurt, worse, kill themselves"</p><p>Toshinori nodded. "Good memory. Now its time for me to tell you the story behind the man who made the quirk the one that every successor has had to fight."</p><p>Toshinori took a sec to collect his thoughts before he spoke.</p><p>"Long ago at the beginning of quirks, a quirkless archaeologist discovered ten powerful rings -"</p><p>"Wait... you said ten rings, right?"</p><p>Toshinori looked at him weirdly for a second.</p><p>"Yes.....why do you ask kid?"</p><p>"Well um you see '<em>shit'  </em>um Ochaco once mentioned to me something about her quirk and she mentions something similar but I think I misheard her yeah '<em>hope that worked'"</em></p><p>"Hmm interesting.... anyway back to the story you see, this man was what you might consider being the first supervillain. He ruled Japan from behind the scenes with a network of people under him even gave himself a new name The Mandarin. He had an obscene amount of wealth at his disposal, and more than that, he had the one thing every selfish person craves."</p><p>Izuku waited patiently.</p><p>" <em>Power, </em>kid. He had power. More specifically, the power to <em>bestow </em>power onto others. His Quirk not only allowed him to stockpile Quirks, but it also allowed him to give those Quirks to others, as was the case with the First. He used this ability to gain favor across Japan. It made him truly powerful in ways that most of us couldn't imagine. It's that ability to give Quirks to others that concerns me the most."</p><p>The boy put his hand to his chin. "I... You mean Sentinel. He... it had more than one Quirk you said."</p><p>"That's right. Now, trying to put quirks into robots has been something everyone has tried to do and all have failed well mostly its Hammer industries. But that's beside the point the first Sentinel had more than any company has tried to put into one. Beyond that, the Sentinel that attacked New York had a similar situation."</p><p>Izuku's eyebrows knit in concern. "So you think that these Sentinel and... I thought you said took care of him?"</p><p>Toshinori hung his head. "I thought so. But now I'm not so sure. If he truly is back, if he's out there then we need to be on our guard. That man is not one to hold back against his enemies. He won't care that you're a child. To him, you represent the next generation of One for All, and that makes you a target." He reached forward, putting a hand on Izuku's forearm. "Promise me you will be careful and keep an eye out. If you get even a <em>whiff </em>of danger, you get the hell out of there and you come to find me, you understand? Your safety is my top priority, Izuku."</p><p>The boy nodded, his eyes just a bit wider than usual. "Y-yeah, of course, Mr.Stark."</p><p>The older man sighed again, releasing his grip. "Good. I'm sorry for scaring you, it's just... all this brings up bad memories."</p><p>"It's okay, really."</p><p>"Right, of course. I'm sorry, I've kept you too long, go ahead and meet up with your friends, okay?"</p><p>Izuku nodded, standing up slowly. "Are you sure you're alright?"</p><p>"Yes, this old man just needs a good cup of tea and a night's sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"</p><p>Izuku put on a small smile. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."</p><p>Once Toshinori knew Izuku was out of range he spoke out.</p><p>"Hey, Friday you can hear me right."</p><p>"Yeah what is it, boss."</p><p>"Give me everything you can on the Maximoff girl both on and off the record. Even if S.H.E.I.L.D. has anything on that family I want to know it."</p>
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